Snowcap Mountain
by Satashi
Summary: A senior trip to a ski resort takes a turn for the worst when a demon attacks and Fin makes her grand reappearance. Jeanne and Sinbad now must keep their friends safe, as well as themselves. ChiakiMaron, Access Fin.
1. Getting Away

Shivering, I looked out the window of the bus and wrapped the blanket around me tighter. The heater stopped working a few hours after we left the bus station and already it was getting to us since the initial heat had long since evaporated out through the glass windows. I felt Miyako shiver next to me and we both got closer under the blanket to try and get as much body warmth as we could. "Some vacation," I muttered under my breath, not at all surprised when I saw a small puff of fog appear from my lips. "And still over ten hours left to go…"

**Snowcap Mountain**

**By:**

**Satashi**

Pakkyarameo stood up at the front of the bus to address her students, a thick blanket wrapped around her as well. "Everyone, we will be stopping soon for a break at the next city. Please use this time to get refreshment and stretch your legs." After a moment she sighed and rubbed her shoulders. "And if you want to board a different bus then I completely understand." Several people cheered at the idea and already began collecting their luggage to prepare to hop busses as soon as they could.

Maron looked at her shivering teacher and let out an aggravated breath. Pakkyarameo was stuck supervising that bus, and her being one of two favorite students, couldn't abandon her. As much as she really, _really_ wanted to get on a warmer bus.

While the busses came to a stop at a large gas station/tourist trap, many students already began standing up and scuffling to the door. When they came to a complete stop, they wasted no time in getting out and running to another bus, only a few of them walking to go indoors for a little while.

Miyako hurried Maron along the gas pumps and quickly inside, where they both let out a sigh of relief as the hot air washed over them. "Two weeks. It'll be worth it." She spoke her thoughts aloud and began to wonder the shop. "Of all the school trips we've taken, this has to be the best."

"Senior trips really are all they're cracked up to be, huh?" Maron replied, stopping to look at a small doll.

"Did you miss me, Baby?" Chiaki asked her, leaning over and speaking into her ear.

"Chiaki!" Maron spun around, startled by his sudden appearance, and lost her balance in the process. His hand reacted quickly though and wrapped around her waist, preventing her from falling. "Um, thanks," She breathed out, looking up at him when he didn't immediately let go.

"Maron, I, I mean… I need to tell you something." He licked his lips and tried to gather the courage to tell her the truth: that he was Sinbad and the reason why Fin was gone wasn't the reason she was thinking. "… Nothing, never mind." He let her go and smiled at his best friend, who apparently was behind her. "Hey, Linchou!"

Maron looked over her shoulder at her class president counter-part. Although she was the female class rep, everyone called her Maron instead of Linchou. Poor Yamato got stuck with the name and even herself called him that instead of by his first or last name. With a sigh, she continued to look around a moment before finally having to return to the busses.

"What was that all about?" Yamato asked himself as he boarded Maron's bus and looked around. "Why did those guys want to change busses with us? This morning they wanted to be on this one 'cause it's bigger."

"So two more poor people were tricked, huh?" Pakkyarameo looked at Chiaki and Yamato and smiled lightly. "Well you're the last ones then. Who did you swap with?"

The two boys gave the names of the people they traded busses with and made their way back to the back of the bus, even though half of it was still empty. "Much better," Yamato spoke aloud as he fell back into a seat all of his own. "These seats are almost twice as big."

Miyako laughed aloud while Maron's lips turned into a half grin. "Welcome to the frozen hell boys."

"What do you mean by that?" Chiaki glanced over at them. Miyako was on the seat in front of Maron and had several pillows around her cuddled in a blanket. Maron had one around her as well and Chiaki took the opportunity to sit next to her despite the protest.

"Everyone stay seated now!" Their teacher told them, standing at the front of the bus. "I don't want any walking around from here on out. For those of you who just boarded, I have some bad news: The heater is out on the bus so you'll just have to deal with it."

"Say what?" A boy Maron didn't recognize stood up suddenly. "No way, I want to get back on the other bus." But the vehicle already started to move, forcing him back down in his seat. "Oh man…."

"Well this sucks." Chiaki sighed and rubbed his head.

"Miyako, let me over there would you?" Yamato slid over to the seat in front of the other two when the teacher wasn't looking. Miyako stammered a moment before growling and allowing the boy to share the blanket with her.

"Maron," Chiaki began with a grin on his face, but was promptly cut off.

"Don't even think about it." Maron held her large blanket closer to herself and glared. "I'm not even giving you the opportunity."

"Che, spoilsport." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Be that way then."

"I will." Maron humphed and turned her attention to her cell phone, where her game was waiting for her.

It was around her twelfth game of Pac-Man when she finally became annoyed at her seat partner's fidgeting. A quick glare at him made her instantly realize what was making him move so much. He looked _really_ cold. Although he was doing his best to appear calm she had spent enough time with him to know how he acted. A small moment went by where she imagined him sneezing and coughing on their vacation and decided that nothing would suck worse than having a cold while visiting a ski resort.

"Here," She removed the blanket from around herself and tossed half of it on top of him. Instantly she felt all the heat she had managed to get inside her covers leave and felt just how cold it really was outside of it. "If you so much as make me _think_ you're touching somewhere you shouldn't, you're going to freeze the rest of the trip, got it?"

"Got it." He slid a little closer to her and after a few moments of trying to get them both equally covered he finally put his arm around the girl and all but pulled her into his lap.

"Ch-Chiaki!" She blushed lightly and was in a cross between shoving him away and getting closer to him for warmth. After he didn't make any more moves on her she spared him a glance, to which he retuned with a smile.

"I won't, if you ask me not to."

She looked away again and pulled the covers over her head so she could see her cell phone again and not lose any heat. "I've asked you not to several times."

"No you haven't."

"Yes I have too!" She spared him a glance over her shoulder. "More time than I can count."

"No, you _told_ me not to. Never asked."

Maron growled to herself, but still allowed him to rub her shoulder with his hand. After a moment she grinned up at him. "Will you rub my back, and not touch me anywhere I wouldn't want you to?" Chiaki blinked, but readily agreed to do so. "And remember, I asked you not to touch anywhere."

His hands danced over her back, but he soon found out that it was more torture than anything else. Here he was in the back of a bus, no one looking, covered by a blanket with the girl he liked and rubbing her back….. And he couldn't cup a feel.

A few moments later he heard his best friend let out a groan. His curiosity got the best of him and he leaned up to look over the seat in front of him. "Linchou, you okay?"

"Not really," He admitted, rubbing his shoulders under the blanket he and Miyako shared. "I don't travel in cars very well. Being this cold doesn't help much either."

"If you get sick on me, I swear I'll-" Miyako's threat cut off short when Yamato looked at her in an apologic manor. "Oh wow, you really do look bad," She calmed down a little and lost her bossy attitude. "You want to lie down? Here let me move the pillows for you."

"It's okay, I don't want to trouble-"

"Shush and do what I say!" Miyako scolded him, forcing him to lie down on the seat and rest his head on a pillow in her lap. His feet went across the isle and onto the empty seat across from them.

Chiaki smirked to himself and sat back in his own seat, going back to rubbing Maron's shoulders. "You want to lie down or anything?"

"No thanks," She replied, now closing her eyes and closing her cell phone game. "I could get used to this…"

"Don't." He laughed, making her giggle.

A few more moments passed and Chiaki let out a yawn. "Well, all my stuff's in the other bus so I have nothing to do. I'm going to catch some sleep and hopefully shave off a few hours of this god forsaken bus ride."

"Mm," Maron acknowledged him with a short hum and took out one of her books she had brought along. "Good luck with that." Chiaki grinned and wrapped his arms around her stomach, pulling her fully into his lap. "Chiaki!" She hissed at him in a whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Getting comfortable," he turned so his back was against the bus with a pillow between his head and the window. He propped his feet on the seat and pulled Maron so she was laying on him completely with her head resting on his neck.

"And just _what_ makes you think I'll stay like this?" She demanded, cheeks starting to color as she realized it was actually quite comfortable and very warm after the blanket was adjusted to cover them.

"Nothing," He laid his arms lazily over her stomach and leaned his head to the side, eyes closing. "Mm, your hair smells nice…"

Maron blushed more from the fact that he had said that, or the fact that she used a new shampoo to see if he would notice, she wasn't sure. But after a few moments passed and he didn't make a move to take advantage of the situation, she calmed down some and had to admit that it was actually kind of nice.

* * *

Maron blinked as the bus came to a stop and heard people started to talk excitedly. Setting her book down, she leaned forward and over the seat to talk to her friends. "Are we there?" She pondered aloud.

"About time," was her response from Miyako as she started shoving her blanket into a duffel bag along with a few books and games. "I am so sick of being on this bus."

Yamato weakly nodded and climbed over the seat to get out of the bus first. His luggage being on a separate vehicle, their teacher allowed him to hop out into the crisp cold air and make his way over to it. "Oh, Chiaki, you need to get your things. Chiaki? Chiaki!" Maron shook the sleeping boy enough to make him open one eye lazily.

"What? Go away, I don't want to get up till we're there." He moved to get more comfortable, but Maron ripped the blanket off him. "Hey!"

"We are there," she told him with a grin. "Go get your things, Linchou already got off."

"Yeah, yeah." Chiaki rubbed his right eye with his palm as he sleepily walked down the isle along with the few other people who got suckered into riding that bus. As he hopped out onto the frozen ground, he took a look around and whistled. The school apparently spared no expense on this get-away, as the ski resort looked absolutely huge. The main lobby in front of him was three stories tall with a huge glass window up top and several smaller ones on the bottom. From the look of things it was a single large room.

His mind was taken off the structure when he felt something hit his face. Turning, he glared at Access, who was flying next to him. "Where have you been Sinbad?" He demanded angrily. "You said you would let me out when we stopped! I kicked my way out of your bag a few hours ago and you weren't even on the bus anymore!"

"I knew I was forgetting something," he mused while looking at him.

"You forgot?"

"Don't fly so high, Maron will see you."

Access instantly dropped down so he was in front of Chiaki's chest. "You didn't really forget did you?"

"Of course not. I had to swap busses and couldn't get my things. If it makes you feel better, the heater was out and we froze all the way here." He chose to leave the part about him and Maron to himself. "Speaking of which, be sure you stay hidden. It doesn't matter if she sees you around home but if she notices you here, then Sinbad can be narrowed down to precious little people."

"I got'cha, I got'cha."

"Who you talking to, Chiaki?" Yamato asked, tossing him a duffle bag, which he caught. "Your guardian angel again?"

"Yeah," Chiaki nodded and slung the strap over his shoulder before grabbing another larger bag and a third smaller one that doubled as Access's portable home. Yamato and he had become good friends over the time they've known each other and heard Chiaki talking to access more times than could be over looked. When confronted seriously one time, Chiaki told him all he could. He had an angel that followed him. Although he didn't really believe it entirely, it was good enough for him and Yamato had thankfully let it drop for the time. "This place is huge," He changed the topic and looked around while his friend got the rest of his luggage. "How on earth did the school afford to send us here, even after the student fees?"

"Special discount." Yamato grinned lightly. "My grandfather's good friend owns this place. We went fishing a lot when I was younger, then we started coming here instead.

"So you've been here a few times, huh?"

"A few," Yamato confirmed and started to walk ahead of the crowd and to the doors. "The places we're staying are small cabins. Two double bed rooms, a living room, bathroom, kitchen, and a porch to put our gear. Kind of small but they're homy."

"Four huh?" Chiaki hummed lightly as he thought. " Know how are they splitting us up?"

"Actually, yeah." They walked into the first doors of the building and stood in a small room before the second doors leading into the place. "Four guys in each, four girls in each."

"There's an odd number isn't there?"

"Yeah. The two Linchous are in the same cabin and we pick one person to stay with us. Maron picked Miyako of course."

"And you?"

"You have to ask?" Yamato gave Chiaki a smirk that he had stolen from the very same boy over their time together. "We're across the complex, closest to the ski lifts but farthest from the lounge."

"I knew picking you as a friend would pay off someday," He teased the boy, getting a laugh as others started coming into the doorway, making them finally move into the building fully.

Access flew high into the rafters after seeing Maron and sighed to himself. "Man this is going to suck big time. Living in the same cabin as Maron without being seen..." he looked down at the students as their teacher greeted someone walking up to them.

"Everyone, this is Mister Yanisaka. He's the one who agreed to house you all on your senior trip. Everyone be sure to thank him properly."

"Nice to meet you," the students gave a collected greeted, bowing lightly.

"Welcome everybody, to my resort." Yanisaka walked to them and gave a small bow. "I know everyone is excited about your vacation but please remember that other people are on vacation as well, so while in the lobby here please keep the excitement level down so others won't be bothered by a group of reckless teenagers ready to crack their bones from stupid bets from their peers on who can catch the most air."

Chiaki laughed loudly at the remark and was quickly elbowed by Maron, shutting him up. Yanisaka seemed amused by him, however and gave the boy a nod and a grin. "I bet you'll be the first in the hospital wing."

Several people had to cover their laughs at this, and Chiaki sunk deeper in the crowd and covered his face. Not because he was really embarrassed, but probably because it was true.

"Now, here are the cabin keys. We provide a complimentary breakfast and offer a cheap lunch and dinner here at the lounge if you're interested. Your cabins are equipped with the means to make your own meals so please feel free to use everything there for your connivance. Busses run from here to the city every day at noon and come back at three and six. If you want to shop then please remember to be back on time for the bus.

Their teacher took a piece of paper from her purse and looked onto it. "When I call your name, please come up here and take your keys and map and move to the other side of the room. Once everyone is set we'll walk to the cabins before the sun goes down fully."

"Hey, Linchou, anything interesting in town?" Chiaki asked his friend while people moved around him when their names were called. "Or should we just stay here?

"A few good things, there's a neat laser tag arena/arcade down Main street. Definitely worth checking out."

"…They have a DDR machine?"

"Of course."

"Chiaki!" Maron scolded him, making the boy realize that his name was being called.

"Ah, sorry!" He ran up to the teacher and accepted the first key, followed by Yamato and the two girls. "Let's get to out home for the vacation and then grab some food. I'm starving."

Maron placed a hand on her stomach and nodded. "Me too. Lunch didn't really do much for me."

Yamato groaned a bit. "Jeez, I didn't think I would make it through that hour."

"Come on man, don't let carsickness get you down, we're here now so eat hearty tonight. Anything deliver or should we grab food here?"

"Let's order out if we can. I'd like to unpack tonight and get some rest. Sitting on a bus all day playing cards surprisingly wears you out."

"Students line up over here and we'll guide you to your cabins," Pakkyarameo waved her hands to get the student's attention. "And for the love of all that is holy, _please_ pay attention to where you're staying and don't get lost."

Several laughs rang out as the large group of students slowly made their way outside into the cold. "I can't handle freezing that long," Chiaki sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Oi, Linchou, you know where we're going?"

"Yeah, it's faster going out the other side of the building. Come on, I'll lead." Yamato adjusted the strap on his bag and began to walk, making the girls hurry to catch up.

"You've been here before?" Miyako asked him, leaning over to look at him.

"A few times," he replied with a light grin.

* * *

"Nice place," Chiaki mused, stepping into the house and turning the lights on as he went. Maron moved past him and immediately cut on the heat. The sun was setting and left a dull orange glow across the rooms from the many windows. "It's bigger than I thought it would be." 

"You should see the family get-away package cabins. Two stories." Yamato went directly to the bedrooms while they looked around and claimed his bed first. "Hey Chiaki, our room is on the left here!"

"Gotcha!" Chiaki called back to him and dropped his things in the floor of the kitchen and grabbed the phone book. "What are we in the mood for?"

"Pizza!"

"Chinese!"

"I'll second that Chinese."

Maron humphed, knowing that Chiaki would also go against her decision, and wasn't disappointed. "Get me the usual then." She walked to the other door to the side of Yamato's room and opened it, getting greeted with a medium sized bedroom with two beds. She claimed the one farthest from the door and tossed her things onto it.

"Hey, Linchou, where are we anyway?" Chiaki's voice drifted through the cabin and she couldn't help but laugh at him, trying to order delivery without even knowing the address where they were.

'_This will be pretty fun, I suppose,_' Maron mused to herself as she unpacked her things. '_I really could use a vacation from everything. Staying with my best friends is a great way to do it, too._' She looked out the door and saw Chiaki jump over the couch to try and grab the remote for the T.V. but just missed it when Miyako picked it up first. The two argued a moment about what to watch and finally agreed on something that Maron didn't really care for.

Walking into the living room again, she looked around one more time to fully appreciate her new home. From the doorway, the cabin immediately opened into a kitchen on the left. It was big enough to allow two people to walk around in comfortably and had everything a normal kitchen would have. A little ways in and to the right was the door that lead to her bedroom and a little past it was Chiaki's.

The living room was big enough to comfortably hold all of them at the same time but didn't look like it would be very comfortable with many more people in it. To the left of the living room were two large doors with glass windows in the middle of them. Testing, she opened the doors and looked outside, seeing a small porch and chairs, as well as ski racks and a boot rack.

"Close those doors!" Miyako complained loudly, making Maron stick out her tongue.

"Actually leave them open," Yamato walked into the living room and popped Chiaki on the head as he passed. "Come help me a moment Chiaki." The boy nodded and hopped off the couch, following the boy outside.

A few moments later they both returned, firewood in hand. "We have a fireplace too?" Maron asked as she turned around and noticed that there was, indeed, a fireplace to the left of the TV.

"What say we get this place warmed up?" Yamato tossed a few logs into the fireplace and started to prepare it. Soon they had a blazing fire which they all sat in front of while watching the Television.

"This is going to be a blast," Chiaki spoke his thoughts aloud as he places his arm over Maron's shoulders. The girl, for once, didn't make a move to pull away or scold him for his sudden actions. Instead she scooted a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Chiaki?"

"Hm?"

"You're buying dinner tonight, right?"

"Hey!"

* * *

_A/N: This'll probably be a three part story so look for the next chapter coming soon. Reviews always welcome_


	2. Busy Day in Town

I rolled over lazily and halfway opened my eyes to look across my pillow. Yamato was sitting on his bed hunched over and sleepily rubbing his left eye. First day of vacation and we had to wake up early so we could eat breakfast and then go shopping for our supplies to last us two weeks. I managed to push myself up and grinned lightly at Access, who was snoring loudly on the other side of my pillow. "G'mornin'" I heard my room mate greet me, which I replied with a yawn.

**Snowcap Mountain II**

**By: Satashi**

Chiaki stretched out as he walked out of his room, still in his pajamas, and made his way to the bathroom. Maron was leaned over the counter brushing her teeth slowly, still half asleep herself. The boy took the opportunity to walk in the open door next to her and start his own morning routine.

If Maron minded, she didn't show it but instead let out a yawn while going to rinse out her mouth. Once free from the toothpaste she managed out a good morning to him. Reaching into her small pouch, the girl pulled out a perfume bottle and dabbed some on her finger to apply. She paused a moment, however, and smiled at the other person in the room with her. "Hey, Chiaki?"

"Hmmm?" He blinked as he felt her touch his nose. Giving her an odd look, he allowed her to swipe her finger across his neck and even rub his ears.

"There, all done." She seemed happy about what she had just done and smiled at him as she walked out of the bathroom backwards before retreating around the corner.

"What was that all about?" Access asked him as he floated in from the ceiling where he couldn't be seen and landed on Chiaki's shoulder. After a moment he sniffed, then sniffed again. "Wow, girls sure do smell nice."

"Mmhmm," Chiaki finished prepping for the day and left the bathroom in favor of getting dressed.

After entering their bedroom Access paused a moment and sniffed again. "Dude, that's not the girls! That's _you_!"

"Huh?" Chiaki brought his hand to his neck and rubbed it lightly before sniffing his hand, realizing that Maron had dabbed him with her perfume while touching him. Growling, he turned to shout through the wall over to her room. "Maron, that's not funny!"

Yamato blinked and looked over at him as a girlish laugh rang out from the other bedroom. "I don't want to know man…I don't want to know.

* * *

"On the road again. Can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is makin' music with my friends. And I can't wait to get on the road again. On the road again, Goin' places that I've never been. Seein' things that I may never see again, and I can't wait to get on the-"

"Chiaki if you sing that _one_ more time, I'm going to kill you." Maron growled at the boy sitting next to her while shaking her fist. "I mean it."

"Why are we on a bus again?" Miyako complained, looking boredly out the window.

"Come on, it's only ten minutes. Takes longer to walk to school." Yamato seemed to be enjoying himself, obviously relieving past experiences in his mind. "Once we get food and stuff we'll have two weeks to do whatever we want. Might as well get this out of the way now."

"On the road again,"

"Chiaki!"

* * *

"So what first?" Chiaki slipped his hands into his thick jacket pockets and looked around. "This just a food run or what?"

"I have a few places I wanna go first." Yamato looked over his shoulder and grinned. "There's a great candy store I want to go to again."

Miyako's eyes lit up, but she quickly pretended not to care. "If you must. Let's go."

Chiaki chuckled to himself, but quickly lost it when Maron walked by him. She looked really sad a moment before turning to him and smiling. "Come on, Chiaki, let's go!"

'_That's right._' Chiaki thought to himself as he followed her, staring at her back. '_Fin lives off candy._' He picked up his pace so he was walking next to her and placed his arm over her shoulders, getting a squeak from her in the process.

"Wh-what?" She blushed up at him and stammered.

"Nothing." He gave the best smile he could and laughed when she started walking faster to get away from him. '_It's not much,_' his mind went on as she glanced behind herself with a little blush still on her face. '_But it's all I can do right now to make you feel better about your angel leaving you._'

He had never thought about it before now. Access would have to go away sometime in the future as well. Although he wasn't as attached to his angel as Maron was hers, he had become good friends with him over the months that they had lived together. Access had given him the chance to run away from home and gave him the courage needed to go through with it. Without him, he would still be where he was then: Thinking about living his own life without actually doing it.

He felt a little twang of sadness, but pushed it down. No need to worry with things that were a few months away at least. "Come on guys, let's hurry!" Chiaki ran ahead of the girls and caught up to Yamato. "Let's book it man!"

His friend nodded and they both took off full speed. The girls called after them, but also had to start running to keep up. "Wait up, jerks!" Maron hollered after them. The snow crunched under her boots as she ran; for once glad that she was Jeanne. Something like this would have left her worn out earlier in her life.

When they reached the candy store, the boys stopped just outside of it and panted while they waited for their female counter parts. "Man," Yamato bent over and put his hands on his knees, thick puffs of fog coming from his mouth. "It takes a lot out of you running through snow, huh?"

"You said it." Chiaki grinned and waved to the girls when they finally got there. "About time, ladies."

"Oh stow it." Miyako walked past him, making the boy laugh

"Look, they make their own taffy!" Maron ran by him as well and pressed her hands against the glass in front of a running taffy machine. "Oh wow, that's so cool!"

Chiaki's sweet tooth hit him, making him turn to the taffy machine as well. Although he would never admit it – to anybody- He liked Taffy. A lot.

More than pudding.

"E-eh," Chiaki walked up next to her and watched as well.

"You love taffy don't you?" She asked him teasingly with a grin.

"What? N-no. Candy is a girl thing. I don't touch the stuff."

"Liar," she accused, turning back to watch. "You always steal my candy every time you come over. Always the same thing."

"I do not!"

"Ne!" she suddenly twirled and placed her hand on his chest. "Let's get some! The stuff they're making right now!"

"If you insist."

She winked and turned back once again to watch. "You know what?"

"What?"

"You're not as difficult as I thought you were once."

Chiaki blushed and decided that if he wanted to keep anymore of his pride, he would have to leave now. "I'm going to find Linchou." He shoved his wallet at the girl and looked away when he thought she was going to ask how much he wanted. "Just get me whatever." Quickly walking away, he ignored the girl behind him as she pointed her finger like a gun at his back.

"Round one goes to Kusakabe Maron. Bang!"

* * *

"So, where to now?" Chiaki put his hands behind his head as they parted ways from the girls, who had insisted to buy the food themselves. Maron and Miyako both knew that he lived off of take-out and delivery, and weren't going to take their chances with Yamato despite the fact that he said he was a good cook.

"The arcade, where else?"

A large grin spread over the blue haired boy as he walked. "Hey, while the girls are away…"

"…the boys shall play!" Yamato gave his friend a high five and grinned himself. "Right this way, my man." He turned and slid his hands into his pockets, letting the wind blow his scarf out dramatically behind himself. The image made several girls on the sidewalk stop and swoon, but the image was quickly shattered when the boy tripped and landed face first into the snow.

"… Come on," Chiaki helped him up. "Let's go."

"Aw man, my nose… is it bleeding?"

"No, it's not bleeding." Chiaki rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Jump everybody! Move! Go! Go!"

The two boys bent down onto the Dance Dance Revolution machine and hit the up arrow with their knees before slapping the right with their hands and immediately going into a handstand. Landing again, Chiaki rolled over to Yamato's pad while the other boy grabbed the back railing and kicked off the machine and over his friend. Upon landing, he helped Chiaki up and swapped sides again, finally finishing the routine with a signature pose. Not stopping to address their fans of eight year olds and the scattered teenager, the two boys lapsed into their second song, moving in rhythm with each other.

"Is that Chiaki?" One of their classmates paused and gaped at the boys dancing on the arcade machine.

"Never mind that, is that Linchou up there with him?"

"Oh man, look at them go!"

The fourth girl of the set cheered out at the pair "Tear up that dance floor guys!"

The song ended and the pair looked over their shoulders at the ever growing crowd. "Ah, busted clean in the act by our friends."

"Says you, everyone knows I play." Chiaki held up both his hands, getting applauded.

"Yeah, but It's hard enough without this being added in on what people make fun of me about."

"Hey man, cheer up." Chiaki guided him off the arcade machine and pushed him along the way as they waved goodbye to the onlookers. "Have more faith in yourself for crying out loud."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He looked over to the side at the small magic shop they just passed. "Wait up, let's go in here." The door opened to his prompting and soon he found himself in a dimly lit shop filled with magic tricks and gags. "There are a lot of neat things in here."

"That's right; you're into magic aren't you?"

"It's just tricks, you and I both know that," Yamato picked up two rings and showed them to his friend. "Anything is possible with the right know how." With a flick of his wrist, he made the two separate rings intertwine with each other before tossing them to Chiaki to try and figure out. "But sometimes…"

"Sometimes?" Chiaki looked at the rings closer, failing to figure out how they were just made into one thing.

"Sometimes I think there's more to them. Like something that most people can't see. As if magic really existed." He took a deck of cards and showed to his friend, then twisted his hands and made a dove appear, that flew up in the shop and landed on a perch with other birds.

"Hey, if that's what you like, keep at it. You never know, magic may really be out there."

"Like how Sinbad steals paintings?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Yamato looked over his shoulder at him and sighed. "Nothing, I guess you wouldn't know would you? He throws these things, like tacks or something. Whatever they hit seems to vanish. And I can never find out just what he throws. But… But it's like real magic."

"Hey check this out," Chiaki changed the subject and held up a poker card. "Look, its razor edged. What's that for?"

"Oh, I have a few of those. They're for throwing at things. Like when a magician cuts something in half with a playing card."

"Can you really do that?"

"Actually, yeah. With a normal card you can throw them pretty fast. Fast enough to cut things like a carrot clean in two."

"And these?"

Yamato scratched his cheek. "They can probably be really painful if you got hit by one."

"Throwing cards, hm?" Chiaki picked up a deck and held onto it. "Sounds like fun. I'm going to learn how to throw these things."

"Ha-ha, just make sure I'm nowhere in sight."

* * *

"Remind me again why we're here?" Chiaki asked, hugging himself against the wind as they waited on the girls at the appointed spot.

"They're late. Again." Yamato looked down at his watch and shivered. "We've been standing here for half an hour!"

"Hey boys!" The two turned around and were quickly handed things to hold before they could react. Finally after each one held so many bags they seemed to be struggling to keep them up, the girls waved at the two people who helped them carry their groceries out of the store.

"Why do we have to hold all this?" Yamato complained, shaking from the weight.

"No back talking!" Miyako scolded him, making him shut up.

* * *

"Man, what a day." Chiaki sighed and laid his head on the table in front of him. "Got dragged all over the place and even shooed out of the cabin and told to get the ski gear. Hey, Linchou, since when was I bossed around as much as you?"

"That's not very friendly. And after I bought you hot chocolate too."

"Yeah, my bad." He sat up and took a long appreciative sip of his drink. Currently they were in the huge lounge at the main office. They had claimed a seat close to the window and both of them looked out it and over to the mountain that had ski lifts going up to it. "Tomorrow, huh? Snow skiing, I can't wait."

The other boy at the table looked over at the pile of skiing gear by their table on the floor. "Do you even know how to snow ski, Chiaki?"

"Not a clue. Can't be that hard, I've water skied a lot of my life so I'm assuming it's about the same."

"Eh, not really, but at least balance won't be a problem for you then." He took a drink from his steaming cup and looked over at a sudden noise across the room.

"Is that really him?" A man he didn't recognize asked excitedly.

"It is! Oh wow, I have to get his autograph!"

"Me too!"

"Don't forget me!"

"Wow, I can't believe he's here.

Chiaki sat his mug down and leaned back in his chair. Access jumped from his shoulder and flew up in the air a little. "What's all the commotion about?"

"Wonder what the big deal is," Yamato mirrored Access's words although he couldn't actually hear him. "Looks like some celebrity."

"I'll hang it over here," Yanisaka announced, walking past the two boys and hanging a large panting on the wall.

After looking at it a moment, Chiaki realized what it was of. "Hey, that's Ken Masters isn't it? The martial arts champion of the States?"

"Oh, you know me?" The voice made Chiaki turn and look up to see a well built male in front of him. He had long blond hair that went midway down his back tied with a red ribbon. "Always nice to see a Japanese fan."

Standing, Chiaki extended his hand, which Ken shook. "I took martial arts for a while," Chiaki told him, a little shocked to be meeting the person. "You could say that I wanted to be as good as you are."

"Ohhhh? How's that coming?"

"I think I'm okay….I guess." Chiaki grinned lightly as Ken laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Name's Chiaki. Nagoya Chiaki."

"That's a strong name." Ken turned and waved to him. "Well then, Chiaki, have a good vacation here. I must be going."

"So that's who the special guest was," Yamato mused, looking up at the painting. "I was wondering why we were told to behave ourselves while in the lounge. Ken Masters, hmmm…" The painting showed the male they just met in the middle of a whirl-wind kick. From his limited knowledge of martial arts, Yamato speculated that he must be a high ranked martial artist to be able to pull one off. That and Chiaki had mentioned that he was a champion.

Access floated over to the picture and inspected it closer. "I don't see what the big deal is," he thought aloud as he flew higher. "When I turned you into Sinbad, you got all the knowledge and skill that most people strive for half their lives. He can't be that much better than you."

Letting out a snort, the young thief picked up his cooling drink and gulped it down. "Let's get outta here, Linchou. A long walk through the snow with this gear and I'll be ready for a good dinner."

"Right behind you."

As the three left, a pack of fan girls walked past them and over to the freshly hung painting. "Isn't it beautiful?" One of them asked dreamily as she stared.

"Hm?" Access stopped flying a moment to look over his shoulder.

"What is it, Access?"

"…No, nothing. Let's get going, I'm cold."

* * *

Maron yawned sleepily as she walked through the dark cabin and to the refrigerator. Her toe smashed into the counter as she made a turn too fast and she had t bite he lip to keep from yelling out. With a frustrated growl she rubbed her foot while turning on a small light above the stove. Now with some light to go by she raided the cabinets and took out some cookies and a glass. She then indulged herself with a large glass of milk and ate them while sitting on the very counter that had injured her foot a few moments ago.

She had a hard time sleeping, the lack of light always getting to her whenever Miyako stayed with her. Although she wasn't as scared of the night as she used to be, it still was enough to make her drown her woes in a midnight snack. For a moment she was thankful that they hadn't bought any ice-cream, as she was notorious for devouring half to three quarters of a carton in a single sitting.

Now full and content, she put her glass in the sink and slid off the counter top and onto the cold floor. Her steps were light as she snapped off the light and bathed herself in darkness once again. '_It sure is a lot darker once your eyes aren't adjusted anymore…_' She felt her way around the kitchen and almost stumbled over one of the dining room chairs. Her hands finally found the door to her bedroom and she entered in quietly, walking over to her bed and falling down into it with a happy sigh.

"Well hello there," Chiaki whispered to her in a sleepy yet shocked voice.

"Chiaki! What are you doing in my bed?" She hissed at him angrily and embarrassed.

"You're in my bed," he countered her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her down against him much to her protest.

"I-I am?" Her face colored darkly as she realized that she obviously walked into the wrong room. "Let me go, I'll leave!" Her voice froze when she heard Yamato say something about shutting up before rolling over and going back to sleep. "Let go of me," she told him again, this time whispering softly. "Chiaki, this is embarrassing, _please_!"

"I don't want to," His hands slowly started to rub her back, making the girl gasp lightly. When she didn't say anything for a moment, his grip on her loosened and he was content with lightly running his hand over her back in a soothing manor. "You can go if you want you know."

Maron nodded her head lightly and chose her words carefully before speaking them. "Just for a little bit, though, I'll let you to hold me. Just hold me, please. Nothing else." He nodded and shifted enough to get her under the covers, pulling them up to her ears as she buried herself against his chest to keep him from seeing her face.

Realizing that she must be really embarrassed, Chiaki smiled to himself and nuzzled his prize. "Your hair smells nice." His words worked like he planned; as she stiffened up a moment before relaxing again.

"Shhh." She scolded him in a soft whisper. "Don't make me get stubborn and stomp out of here." She smiled despite herself. It was a very rare treat for her to get a hug from the boy that didn't immediately get followed by him trying to kiss or fondle her. She allowed herself to stay with him until both of them were falling asleep again. After dozing off for a few moments, she knew that it was time to leave. "Thank you, I should go now."

"Already?" he didn't make an effort to hide his disappointment. The girl opened her mouth to say something but Yamato yawned loudly from the other side of the room, making both of them get deathly quiet. When they were sure it was safe, Maron pulled back a little and nodded at him. Chiaki wanted to protest, but let the girl go as he had promised and was even tucked in for his troubles. She hovered over his bed a moment before leaning down and gently pecking his cheek.

Maron crept out of the room slowly and made her way back to her own section of the cabin, where she fell into the cold bed and pulled the covers up over her head. '_I can't believe I just did that!_' her mind screamed at, making her bury her head in a pillow she was holding. '_I don't know how I'll even look at him tomorrow_!' A few moments went by and Maron let her grip on the pillow loosen a little and finally smiling to herself she cuddled up against it and let out a content sigh. '_Although…It felt really nice… to be held like that._'

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Next chapter will be out in a day or two so look forward to it! 


	3. Snow ski

The door burst open suddenly, grabbing my attention as I shot up in bed and looked to see what it was that caused the racket. What I saw left me dumbstruck with my mouth hanging open. Maron, clad in only her underwear, strode across the room over to me and shoved me back down on the bed as she straddled my waist. Without wasting any time, my shirt was ripped up and her hands pressed against me as she leaded toward my face with a seductive look. "Wake up, Chiaki." The words made me pause and after giving her a confused look, they repeated, a little louder. "Chiaki, wake up already."

**Snowcap Mountain III**

**By: Satashi**

"Come _on_ man, wake up!" Yamato shook his roommate once more and finally got a groggy response as he set up in bed. "About time. You were grinning in your sleep like and idiot. Hurry and get dressed, it's almost ten and the girls already have breakfast going."

Chiaki watched his friend leave the bedside and walk over to the door, already dressed in his skiing attire, minus the jacket and hood. The dream he was having faded from his mind against his will and after realizing that he probably couldn't get away with going to sleep, kicked the covers off and stretched. "Man, what a nice dream."

"What about?" Access asked him as he flew into the room, staying high to the ceiling incase Maron walked in on them. "Not like you to wake up on such a good note."

"Like you're any different?" Chiaki pulled on the blue ski pants and a light long sleeved shirt. "You're harder than I am to wake up, ya know." He grinned at his partner as he made his way out. The angel sighed and landed on the desk in the room to look out the window. At least today he could fly around all he wanted without having to worry about Maron again.

"Good morning Chiaki!" Miyako greeted him happily as the boy walked from his bedroom. "Breakfast is almost ready, how many eggs you want?"

"Two or three," he pulled a chair back from the table and fell down into it, wasting no time in leaning it back on the back two legs. "Smells good, what all you have going on in there?"

"Eggs, bacon, ham, biscuits, gravy, some sausages and pancakes."

He let out a sharp whistle at all of it. "We feeding an army?"

"We need a good breakfast since we're going to be doing a lot of stuff today," she replied as she cracked some eggs into the skillet to cook. "I can't wait."

"Here you go Chiaki," Maron put a mug of coffee in front of him, followed by two sugar cubes and a small splash of milk. "How do you like yours, Linchou?"

"Eh? Um, black please"

"Gross man." Chiaki took a sip of he drink and looked into it appreciatively. "How can you drink this stuff plain?"

Miyako looked over at Maron as the two boys argued over their personal taste. "You sure do know how he likes things for not caring too much." Her best friend made a face and started cooking, choosing to ignore the remark. "First you tell me how to cook his eggs and bacon and now you know exactly how he likes his coffee?"

"Oh stow it, he invites himself over for breakfast almost every morning."

"You're doors always locked."

Maron sighed. "He jumps on my balcony."

To her surprise, Miyako actually started to laugh at hearing that. "That doesn't surprise me." She pulled the skillet off the burner. "Plate." When Maron held it over, she scooped the eggs off of it and started cooking some more. "You like yours over easy, right Linchou?"

"Yes, please." Yamato replied before going back to his conversation.

"Seems to _me_ that _you_ know a lot about a certain other boy in the room." Maron teased as she walked by. She heard Miyako hiss at her back, but ignored it while happily setting a plate down in front of Chiaki. "Here you go, eat up." She paused when he held up a hounded yen bill and slowly took it. "What's this for?"

"Always tip the sexy waitresses."

Maron clocked him upside the head, but still kept the bill. Walking angrily to the kitchen, she began preparing Yamato's plate. "Stupid jerk. Can't he at least go ten minutes without saying something like that?"

* * *

"These things really safe?" Chiaki asked as he walked a little awkwardly to his friend and class rep. A swing came behind them and bumped into the pair, making them sit down. Yamato reached up and pulled the safety rail down and grinned as the ski lift started to take them up the mountain. "They're making a lot of noise. And it doesn't look like much is holding this thing onto that wire up there."

"Oh please, you wuss." Yamato couldn't wipe the grin from his mouth if he wanted to. "Trust me, they're safe. Never been an accident on these things and there never will. But that aside, you said you've never snow skied before, right?"

"Yeah, any tips?"

"Actually yeah." Yamato put his two skiing poles in front of him and motioned for Chiaki to do the same. "These will keep you in control. They're flexible so don't think they'll stop you from falling, but they'll help you in the first place. Keep them like this while you…"

Miyako looked at the two boys in the ski lift in front/above them and giggled to herself. She didn't know what they were doing but it looked a little funny. "Ne, Maron, which slope you want to go down first? Maron? Maron!"

"I don't want to die!" Maron screamed at her, holding her arm tighter. "I'm too young!"

"We're not going to die, now let go. I swear you've never been afraid of heights before!"

"I'm _not_! But we're in this swing thingy and if it falls we won't have time to do anything but scream and crash and roll down the hill with all our bones broken and and and…" Miyako sighed and allowed the girl to continue holding onto her as they went up the hill.

"Bar up." Yamato did as he said and prepared to dismount from the lift. His friend copied his movement and both slid away from the swing and turned to come to a stop. "Not so bad, was it?"

"Not at all," Chiaki replied as both girls fell and slid out of the way of the next people coming up behind them. "I find myself looking very knowledgeable thanks to you." He smirked at his friend while the two girls unsteadily made their way over to them. If not for their gymnastics training and balance, both would probably be on the ground several times over. "What say we go down the expert slope?"

"You _got_ to be kidding me," Maron muttered, doing all she could to just make it to him. "How come you're able to do this already?"

"Because I'm good. Come on, let's go." He put his poles on the ground and slid easily over the snow, followed by and soon also passed by Yamato. The girls watched the two for a moment, then copied their movements and soon found themselves gliding effortlessly across the almost flat ground at the top of the mountain.

"Beginners course is here." Yamato turned sideways and slid to an abrupt stop at the start of the course. "You can go really fast or as slow as you want down here, it's not slanted that much. Want me to show you how to do it?"

"I'm more than capable of learning by myself," Miyako sniffed at him and without anymore warning, hopped a little and started to slide down the hill. After a few moments her speed started to pick up and she fell over while trying to slow down, making her fall over and slide a few feet before coming to a stop. "I got it," He spoke before Maron could head after her friend. Yamato easily glided to her and slid to a stop before offering his hand. "Come on, no one will know."

Miyako glared up at him a moment before sighing. "Don't think that I owe you anything for this"

"Miyako," he grinned down at her. "Take my hand." The girl blushed lightly and allowed him to help her to his feet. "All right, now put your ski poles in the ground and you can turn to face anyway you want."

Maron smiled to herself and voiced her thoughts aloud. "You know, they would make a good couple."

"I think we make a better one," Chiaki replied with a grin.

"Since when were we a couple?" Maron humphed at him and started to slide down the mountain really slowly. "I don't recall ever being asked."

"I asked plenty of times," He slid next to her and used the tips Yamato told him while on the lift to keep his balance and speed surprisingly well for being his first time. "You just never answer."

"I answer plenty." She copied his movements and soon found herself going a little fast and in more control.

"So, we're dating."

"Are not." She sped up some more but couldn't seem to lose him. "you're embarrassing me, stop it!"

"Not until you admit we're dating!" He kept his eyes on her as they went down the mountain.

"Chiaki!"

"What?" He grinned a moment before smacking into a tree and falling over.

"There's a tree there," Maron finished what she was saying as she fell down to stop herself from continuing her path. After seeing that he was okay she allowed herself to giggle a little and then break into a full laughter when he had to remove a pine needle from the tree from his blue tinted goggles.

"I find myself looking very uncool…"

"Come on, let's learn how to ski." Maron pushed herself up and grinned at him. "But I don't really want to bother Linchou…"

Someone slid next to them and stopped, sparing them a glance. "First timers, eh?"

"You could say that." Chiaki managed to get himself up and slide down to the new person and his self proclaimed girlfriend. "Hey, wait a minute… Ken?"

Ken paused a moment before grinning. "Chiaki, right? What're the odds?" He offered his hand, which the boy shook. "And who is this lovely lady with you?"

"This is Maron, my girlfriend."

Maron's face shot red a moment before she took shook the man's hand as best she could through the thick ski gloves. "Nice to meet you." She looked over at Chiaki for some type of explanation.

"We met last night in the lounge," He didn't disappoint her. "This is Ken Masters, martial arts champion of America. He's here on vacation."

"Oh wow! That's so cool!"

"On another note, you two need a few lessons on how to ski?" Ken gave them a smile and adjusted his tinted snow goggles.

* * *

Chiaki grinned as he zipped down the slope, cutting to the side and back again to avoid one of his fallen friends. His poles slammed into then snow and his legs twisted, making his skies turn and slide sharply. His stop was successful, but he found out quickly that he had overdone it slightly and ended up falling over and sliding the last few feet and at the legs of Maron who was waiting on him. "Hi there," She spoke down at him with a smile. "Have a nice trip?"

"Lovely," he pushed himself up with her help and clicked off the skis from his boots. "Wait long?"

"Not too bad, Ken and I just got here a few minutes ago. Linchou and Miyako are already inside the lounge." Maron walked with him over to the door and after entering, waited patently for Chiaki to hang his skis and poles by the door. "I already ordered for you."

"What'cha get me?" Chiaki unzipped his jacket as they walked and tossed it on the back of his chair when they got to a table. He greeted Yamato with a grin and Miyako with a wave. Ken smiled at him in the middle of his conversation with the other girl at the table while Maron answered his question.

"Something I know you'd like." She winked at him. "Bacon-cheese burger with all the trimmings and chili cheese fries."

"Calorie overload isn't it?" Yamato smirked at his friend, knowing just how much they both could pack away at times. Although Chiaki most definitely could eat more than he ever could.

"Stow it man. Ken, thanks again for all the advice. It's smooth sailing after learning the basics."

"Hey, anytime. It's nice to hang with new people. In fact, I-" he had to pause a moment to address a young girl who apparently wanted his autograph.

"Must be a little annoying doing that everywhere you go," Miyako half asked, half stated as she drank her hot coco. She saw Chiaki take a drink from Maron's cup and chose to ignore her embarrassed and slightly upset reactions to it. "It happen often?"

"Not so much here at all, actually." He looked up at the large painting on the wall and grinned at it. "I think it's just because of that. It was done by some famous painter not too long ago. My good friend is friends with the person who runs this place so I gave it to him as a gift. Truth be told, I'm not really the kind who enjoys having pictures of himself, hahaha. But, I do get a lot of challenges for a battle. Those are the best parts, you find some really amazing people out there you know."

"Ohhh?" Yamato looked over at his friend. "Chiaki, you do martial arts don't you? That'd be a fight to see."

"You said you were pretty good?" Ken raised an eyebrow at him, making Chiaki grin.

"Decent. Why, want to go at it once?"

"We have some time to kill before out food gets here…?"

"Boys." Maron sighed as the two got out of their chairs and made their way out the door. "If your food gets cold, don't complain to me!" She fumed as Chiaki waved over his shoulder at her.

"So, how's this going to work? First point, give up, mutual stopping?"

"Mutual, when a finishing blow could have been dealt or has." Chiaki dropped into a fighting stance and grinned. They were behind the lounge on packed in snow. Despite the footing being slick and iffy at best, they also had to factor in their clothing. Thick pants and long sleeved shirts didn't make for the best things to have combat in. "Don't beat me up too bad now."

Ken grinned and dropped into a stance. The two looked at each other a moment before the American made the first move. Chiaki stepped back to avoid the sidekick and countered it with by lashing out his fist. Ken neatly avoided it and pressed his own, which Chiaki ducked. '_He's slower than I thought,_' Chiaki's mind followed the movements and started to easily counter them, sometimes with so little effort it almost made him smile. '_Am I really that strong as Sinbad?_'

Ken smiled at him and pressed forward once more, catching him off guard. The punch soared by his face and made him back up a few steps to regain his thoughts. The attacks started to come a little faster and he retaliated by pushing his foot out, almost clipping his opponent's side.

Taking the advantage, Chiaki ran forward and started attacking instead of dodging. The moves were close to home and more than once, Ken looked like he was surprised at them. Deciding to get serious, Chiaki attacked faster. The moves made him take a few steps back, but suddenly he found them not getting as close as they were a few moments ago. Punch after punch, his attacks were deflected or simply dodged.

The thief's eyebrows narrowed as he started to go all out, twirling and kicking and jumping and moving to the best of his ability. The very same attacks that he had used against demons were now used against his sparring partner. And yet, they weren't landing as he had hoped. In fact, Ken seemed to be blocking him just as simply as Chiaki had been before.

The two both jumped back and Ken drew his thumb across his nose. "Great warm-up! Ready to go at it?" His voice was playful, but not in an insulting way. From his appearance and tone, Chiaki was shocked to realize that he was used to battles like this, where his best was just a warm-up to his opponents.

'_Okay…all or nothing._' Chiaki nodded at him and prepared himself. Brining his concentration down to nothing but the man in front of him, he got ready to unleash his quickest, hardest attacks to try and win the sparring match. When their eyes met he shot forward so fast the he was already about to punch before the snow from his leap even hit the ground again.

Chiaki felt his world lurch and suddenly was very cold. Dazed, he tried to comprehend what happened and soon found Ken's face in front of him. "I didn't hurt you did I?" He offered his hand and Chiaki finally realized that he was no longer on his feet, but rather sprawled on the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too, are you okay?"

"No... No, I'm fine. Really." Chiaki took the offered hand and was helped to stand. To his amazement, he saw a long slide path in the snow where he had slid. "You… threw me?"

"Yeah."

Chiaki's mind reeled at hearing that. He had seriously tried to win, gave all he had to try and land a single blow onto Ken… and he was thrown, tossed aside, so fast that he couldn't even understand what had happened. Chiaki, Sinbad the demon slayer… just got owned by a mere human martial artist.

Walking back into the building, he smiled fakely at his friends as they made fun of him, automatically assuming that he lost. Maron, to his surprise just fumed at him for doing something like that and started to brush the snow off of him and complain about how he would catch a cold for going out without his jacket. When her hand went to brush his shoulders off he reached up and caught it within his own. "Wha, what is it?" She tried to pull her hand back but his tightened slightly around hers, making her stop. "Chiaki?"

He wanted to say something to her, but found that he couldn't. "No, it's nothing. Is that mine?" he released her hand and jumped into the chair. "Oh man it looks good, I'm starving!" Picking up the hamburger he took a huge bite of it and chewed. "Mm man this hits the spot."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Maron hissed at him. "Honestly." Sitting down, she turned to Ken. "How did the match go?"

"It was close," Ken lied. "Almost had me more than once."

"Hmmmmm…" Yamato looked over at his friend, who was stuffing his face. To the average person he looked like he was just really hungry, but to him he could tell that he was upset about something. Chiaki was the first person to eat lunch with him on a daily basis, and along with him brought Maron and Miyako. It wasn't much, but to him it was enough to make him want to start changing his life and making friends.

When they left the lounge, Yamato chose rather to walk next to his friend. "What's wrong man? You seem down."

"Eh? Oh it's nothing." Chiaki looked forward as he walked. "Have you ever…"

"Hm?"

He chose rather not to ask his question. Of course he had felt helpless before, like he wanted power. So much that a demon would possess him twice. "Hey guys," The group stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I'm feeling kind of funny for some reason; I'm going to head back to the cabin for a bit, get warmed up and all that before I hit the slopes again. Maybe take some cold medicine just incase."

"Good idea," Miyako nodded at him. "Don't want to get sick on vacation."

"Wasn't what you ate was it?" The brown haired girl looked a little upset.

"No, no. that was great, thanks." He turned and waved over his shoulder. "See you in about an hour or two."

* * *

"Access! Access!" Chiaki took off his scarf and looked around for his angel in the cabin. "Come out here Access Time!" he threw his jacket on the coat rack and kicked off his boots and pants. A dark purple sphere flew in from the rafters from a skylight and Access appeared in front of him.

"What? What is it?" He looked around. "A demon?" The angel continued to look around a moment before calming down and looking at his partner. "What is it, Sinbad?"

"How strong am I?" his voice was a little desperate, shocking the flying being in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Access looked a bit shocked at the sudden outburst.

"How strong am I?" He repeated, a little calmer. "Like, compare me to something."

"You're several times stronger than Jeanne."

"Really?"

"Welllllll…" he trailed off a moment and looked sheepish while continuing. "You were before. Now that she has a new holy power to fight with, I'd say the tables were turned complete one eighty on us. She's more powerful than you magically, but you're still over skilled and strong, as well as better equipped." He paused as he spoke and suddenly lashed out at him. "Why are you asking me this anyway? You're power is almost a direct reflection of mine! Of course you're strong!"

Chiaki sighed and fell down onto the couch. "A little earlier, I sparred against Ken."

"The martial arts dude that you like?"

"Yeah, him. He's on vacation here. Anyway, I was sparring. I was tosses aside like I was nothing. I didn't even _see_ it happen."

Access landed on the table in front of Chiaki and sat down himself. "I see. Wow." The small angel put his cheek against his palm and propped it up on his knee. "Well then, we'll just have to get stronger won't we?"

"Access? What exactly are you?" He leaned forward and looked down at him. "When we met you told me I had to seal these demons before Maron, be Fin, and that something bad would happen if I didn't…Maron is Jeanne reincarnated right? She has God's protection, so what is the power you gave me? Why is hers stronger?"

"Now's not the time for that," Access shook his head. "I'm under orders not to tell anything. I'm already in bad enough trouble getting you mixed up into this. If you knew everything I could possibly get demoted."

Chiaki let out a sigh and hung his head. "Okay. Is there any way to get stronger?"

"I could ask Arch Angel Michael?"

"How long would that take?"

"Two days I suppose. I'm on a mission so I wouldn't be able to see my friends."

"Yeah. Access, could you? I have to protect her…I can't do it alone."

The black winged angel sighed. "Sinbad… You can't keep doing this. We _need_ those chess pieces, I-"

"Access." Chiaki shook his head. "I told you a while ago. I'll still try when I can, but my main priority is protecting Maron. Until I know why you need them I can't put it on my main mission and allow her to get hurt while I checkmate."

He nodded and flew up in the air a little more. "I know, Sinbad, and I'll try and see what I can get done when I'm in heaven. And for the love of God, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone okay?"

"If I do, I'll name it after you."

"That's right!" Access gave him one last look before turning around. "Right then, I'm off. Two days tops." The purple aura around him came up as he went into traveling mode.

"And Access?"

"Yeah?" He paused by the slightly cracked window.

"Thanks man." He received a nod instead of an answer and watched his angel fly away from him. "…Two days, huh?" His rosary was taken from his pocket and he looked down into it. "Two days…" Looking back at the window, he felt a strange feeling in his chest. The cabin suddenly seemed a little to quiet for his liking so he decided to turn on the TV and crash onto the couch for a small nap before heading back out.

He wasn't sure how long he was out, but when he came to he found a blanket draped over him and Maron's head leaning against him from her spot in the floor next to him. "Maron?"

"Hm?" She looked back over at him, a half-stick of pocky in her mouth. "Hey," she smiled at him lightly. "I was a little worried about you so I came to check up. How are you feeling?" turning, she reached over and put her hand onto his forehead. "You don't feel feverish."

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her onto him and grinned. "Got'cha!"

"Geeze you're not sick at all are you?" She demanded as she pulled back. "Lemme go!"

"No way!" with another tug he managed to pull her on top of him completely. After a few more moments of struggling she finally let out an angry sigh and allowed him to cuddle her. "…Thanks."

"Huh?" she moved to get more comfortable and was surprised when his hold on her loosened to allow her to do so. "Thanks for what, the blanket?" She moved said blanket so it was over her as well. "What is it with getting in this situations? Do you sit up at night and plan or something?"

Chiaki grinned lightly and pulled her closer to him before starting to rub her back. "You know you like it."

"I-I never said I didn't…" she laid her head on his chest and blushed. "You know, you'd probably get this more often if you were less perverted all the time."

"But where's the fun in that?" He grinned at her.

"Is something wrong?" She suddenly asked, looking at him.

Chiaki didn't respond at first. "Maron, I… I really need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Her body moved so her chest was laying on his and propped her hands up to rest her chin on them. "You going to ask me out again?"

Taking the unconsciously offered escape route, he nodded. "But you're already my girlfriend." When she rolled her eyes he grinned. He would tell her one day, eventually, who he really was. Until then he would continue to hold her as he was now. "Maron?" When her attention was turned back to him he leaned forward and kissed her.

She returned his kiss simply and pulled back to smile at him. "Don't get any ideas just because we're 'dating'." She winked at him and patted his chest. "Since you're feeling okay, let's go back out. We have all night to be here."

"Does that mean you'll lay with me later too?"

"Don't get your hopes up." She swatted his head and rolled off of him in favor of standing and stretching. "Mmmm, let's go."

* * *

Ken waved goodbye to his friends and stepped inside the lounge for some hot chocolate before he too decided to turn in for the night. As he walked over to the café section of the building he paused a moment to look up at the large picture of himself. A small laugh came from his lips while he admired it. "Such corny things," He mused, shaking his head and continuing along his way.

"You seek a challenge?"

Ken stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Eh? Who's there?" His eyes swept over the empty room.

"You want to become more powerful, to be the best there is?" Ken walked to the painting and looked up at it, amazed as it started to look a little different to him. "You seek to improve yourself… I can help you." He took a step back and squinted his eyes a moment before bringing his hand up to rub them. "Just accept me. Together we will be unstoppable!" There martial artist shook his head a little then fell to his knees and shook it again, harder."

"Wha…What's going on…Get out of my head!" His fist gripped his hair as he panted. "I don't like this! Get out!" He pressed his eyes together tightly and opened his mouth in a silent scream.

The owner of the lounge stepped into the room and looked over at the man kneeling down. "Ken is that you?"

Standing, Ken looked over at him with a grin on his face. "Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"I thought you'd be here. Come; join me for something hot to drink would you?"

"Sure thing." He began to walk over to him, eyes lost behind an invisible black fog that clouded them, thoughts lost as he was a prisoner in his own mind. "I'd like that."

* * *

A/N: This just keeps getting longer and longer. Stay tuned for more in a few days, leave a review if you have the time please. 


	4. Revelations

Author's notes: I took some creative liberty on the angel tier system. It differs greatly from the series, about the color of wings and such, so please read with open minds.

* * *

It was a little awkward being back in heaven again after being gone for so long. Several of my friends waved at me, which I returned with a nod and fast explanation that I had to be fast while here so I could get back to my mission. The truth was I really wanted to talk to them again, especially my two oldest ones who knew what my current mission was. As I flew down the long hallway, the arch angel Michael noticed my presence and turned his attention to me as I kneeled before him on his desk. 

**Snowcap Mountain IV**

**By: Satashi**

"Access Time, it is good to see you back. How faired your mission on earth?" The full sized angel had large black wings behind him that seemed to be longer than most other's. Long blond hair traveled to his knees, tied halfway down into a weak ponytail. Unlike most angels, he wore light leather armor instead of silk robes. A large one handed sword was on his left side, sheathed in what looked to be a dark leather sheath. Michael motioned for Access to rise, which the small angel chose to rather stay kneeling, eyes looking at the ground. "I see. Would you care to discuss this in my office?"

Access nodded and floated up, following the grand angel to the large doors that opened before him and closed after Access was in the room as well. Sitting down at one of the small chairs on the large desk, the small angel took a deep steadying breath. "It's not all good news," He started off with the thing he was most dreading to say, lest he not gather the courage. "Fin found Jeanne first and they have been sealing demons."

"This is grave news indeed," he agreed with him and leaned forward to listen more. "What happened after this?"

"I know I should have come back immediately, but…" He clenched his small fist. "I'm sorry, Michael, I couldn't give up on Fin. I know it was wrong but I just had to do something! I… I gave a human the power to seal!"

"Who received this kind of power?"

"Chiaki Nagoya. He reacted to the power very well and we've managed to seal quite a number for ourselves." Access clapped his hands together and when he moved them apart, several black chess pieces appeared in front of him. "Jeanne got a lot of them, but we managed to collect a little over a quarter of what she has." The chess pieces lined up on the desk and Access took a steadying breath. "I know my actions were wrong and against my original mission, and I am prepared to accept the punishment for it." He bowed down deeply. "But please, sir, I must return shortly. Sinbad, Chiaki, has decided to fight Fin when she comes back and Jeanne's barrier will be completely broken soon."

The small black winged angel clenched his fist in anger. "Please sir, I beg you! Grant me power to see this through. I don't care if I die on earth!" raising his head, he met the eyes of his master. "I'll even give my wings when this is over if I survive!"

Michael took a long breath and leaned back in his chair. "Access, you have always been the reckless type. What you did on earth was against so many rules; your wings would have been taken from you when you returned regardless." The smaller angel flinched at hearing this, but kept his ground. "But never-the-less, you have always shown me true devotion and spirit."

He stood up and drew his sword. "Access Time, do you –knowing the next to nothing odds- accept the mission to stop Fin Fish at all cost, even if it means sacrificing yourself?"

"I do, sir."

"And, should you be successful, promise to atone for your mistake of granting a human divine powers by staying on earth and fighting there?"

Access looked to the ground and nodded. "I do, sir. Even if it means I won't be able to come back to heaven. These people are important to me, and you taught me to always follow my heart. It's telling me to continue my fight, and I will do anything to be able to follow that dream."

"Then, Access Time, I hereby acknowledge your determination and assign you with your new mission." Michael pointed his sword at the small angel

* * *

Chiaki looked to his left and broadly watched the trees go by underneath him. At first the ski lifts were exciting for him, being a nice chance to relax and just enjoy himself. Now, however, they were exceedingly boring. Fortunately for him, Yamato was sitting next to him this time, as they had stuck together most of the day. Deciding to pick on his friend, Chiaki looked over at him. "Its times like this it occurs to me that we were lied to  
by 'The Jetsons'." 

Yamato blinked and looked over at him. "What are you talking about?"

"According to that show, we were supposed to be tooling around in flying cars by now."

"Yeah, well, most of us rational thinkers weren't banking on a cartoon to offer us a viable glimpse into the future of technological development."

Chiaki grinned. "Hey, what would you be willing to trade for the flying car?"

"What do you mean?"

"Say some German scientist comes up to you and he says 'I have invented the flying car. I'll give it to you on one condition.'"

Yamato waited a moment to see if he would keep talking, but when nothing more came, he asked his question. "Well? What's the condition?"

"He's not going to tell you." Chiaki put his hands behind his head and looked up the mountain.

"Then it's no deal." He crossed his arms and nodded to himself.

"The guy is offering you the _flying car_. You going to look a gift horse in the mouth? Just take the car man!"

"Not until I know what the catch is!" Yamato glared over at his ski lift partner.

"Ugh, Fine… The catch is you got to cut off a foot."

"Pfft! No way."

"Are you saying you wouldn't cut off your foot for the flying car? You're that selfish?"

Yamato started at him. "It's my _foot_! How am I supposed to walk?

"What walk? You'll have the flying car! Good God, you could sell the design and engineering secrets to the car companies and be a multibillionaire. After that you could buy like 50 prosthetic feet!"

"…Which foot, right or left?"

"You're choice"

"Ok…I'll trade my left foot for the flying car."

Chiaki grinned and offered his hand for a shake to confirm the trade. "So it's a deal then, your foot for the flying car. You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"You can't welch."

"I won't welch!"

"Because the whoooole world is counting on you."

Yamato gave him and odd look and pulled his hand back. "What the hell kind of scientist is this guy anyways?"

"…One with a lot of free time on his hands… and a foot fetish…. Ok! So then what happens is you find out the guy is going to take your foot off with a hacksaw."

"What?"

"And no atheistic."

"Aww, screw that!"

"Come on its part of the deal!" The blue haired boy grinned like mad. He always enjoyed doing this to his best pal.

"You didn't say that before!"

"Come on, it only hurts when they're taking the foot off. After that they'll use a local on your stump and cauterize the wound."

"Well why can't I have a local before he cuts it off?"

"Be_cause_, he is a sick degenerate that likes to inflict pain."

"You said he was a man of _science_!" Yamato shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, you don't think Einstein didn't like hacking guy's feet off? But, nobody ever said anything about it because he was one of the great thinkers of our time. But come on man! Take a hit for the team! Its a few seconds of pain for a lifetime of riches and zero traffic!"

Groaning, Yamato leaned back in the lift. "Fine, as long as I get the local as soon as he is done cutting."

"So you want the local?"

"Who am I, The Marquis De Sade? Yes, I want the local!"

"…All right."

"Why do you say it like that for?"

Shrugging, Chiaki continued. "It's just the local he gives you, knocks you out… and when your out he… diddles you pennie."

"Oh, come on!"

"Hey man, you made the deal."

"To trade my foot for the flying car, not to be tortured and molested by some mad German scientist!" He was beginning to regret ever getting on the same lift as Chiaki.

"And his friends."

"What?"

"It's just when he is done with you he gives his friends a shot at you too."

Fed up, Yamato scoffed and looked off to the side. "Deals off!"

"What are you some kind of homophobe?"

"No! I just don't want to be diddled by some insane German scientist and his friends after they've hacked my foot off."

"Need I remind you, this is for the _flying car_?" Chiaki put emphasis on the last words and threw out his hands.

"It ain't worth it!" Yamato retorted, also throwing out his hands to make his point.

""See, you're what's wrong with this country, hell with this world. You're always thinking about your own comfort level. Never thinking about the rest of us. You'll forever be remembered as the sad footnote in the book of life. The wimpy little scumbag who could of breached the chasm of becoming and being. But instead opted to cover his own ass… and foot… in the process."

"All right!" Yamato shouted at him. "I'll go. Through. With. The. Deal." He said each word separately to show that he would do it. "I'll let the German scientist hack my foot off! Then him and his friends can have their way with me! Alllllll for the _flying car!" _he panted when he was done with his rant and looked over at his friend while the safety bar was moved upwards and they could get off the lift.

"…You would do it with a bunch of guys just to get a car?" the pair of teens looked at each other a moment before Chiaki slid off onto the ground and away from him. "…I thought I knew you man."

Sliding down the slope, he grinned as his friend caught up to him and shoved his arm lightly. "You jerk," Yamato accused him with a smirk. "Do you stay up at night and think about this crap?"

"You know it!" Chiaki laughed and gained more speed, slicing around a few trees before finally losing his balance and falling. He slid a few moments before lightly crashing against another snow covered tree and getting rewarded with a large blast of powdered snow falling on him from the jarred branches. "Oh man, its freezing!"

"Ha, serves you right!" Yamato cut sharply to stop, slinging more snow on him. "See what you get? May be next time you'll-" the smile on his lips suddenly vanished. "Chiaki, look!" He moved over to another fallen body by him and kneeled down while his friend stumbled over to see as well. "I know her, this is Meimi."

"What happened to her?" Chiaki looked the girl over. "Did she crash? We got to get her to the hospital, no telling how long she's been here!" moving his hands over her body as best he could with her thick skiing gear on he checked her for broken bones. "She doesn't seem to have anything snapped."

"It looks more like she was beat up than a simple crash…" Yamato lifted her up and cradled her against his chest. "You go ahead and tell the people at the bottom of the slope. It's going to be hard skiing down without my poles so I'll have to be really careful."

"You got it," Chiaki quickly turned his body and slammed his skiing poles into the ground to propel himself forward.

* * *

"Is she okay?" Miyako asked as she walked into the cabin where her friends were. "How long has she been here?" 

"A few hours," Yamato answered her with his arms crossed. Around him were several more people with similar injuries. "This is odd. They were all on the beginners coarse. There's no way they could get this banged up from falling down, even if you did hit a tree. It's almost like they were attacked."

"Attacked?" Miyako repeated his words shocked. "But who would…?"

"I don't know. I could be wrong. It's just odd."

Chiaki turned to look at the people closer, a sick feeling coming up within his chest. '_It can't be…Not a demon. Not now!_' He pulled a blanket down by one person he knew in his class and saw a slash mark over his shoulder. '_It's not scabbing over, almost like it was an energy blast…_'

"Chiaki?"

"Something's come up, I gotta go." He walked from the room, vaguely aware of Yamato following him. "I hope I'm wrong…" He stopped and turned on his heels. "Hey, Linchou, Is there anything around here that would be considered exceptionally beautiful?"

"Eh?" He looked at his friend a little confused but slowly nodded. "Yeah, there's a shrine up around the expert side of the mountain. It's right before the ski slope."

"Right." He turned around and began walking to the ski lifts. Waiting impatiently, he got on the next swing and brought the safety rail down. He gripped it tightly and glared at the mountain in front of him. To his surprise, the swing jerked lightly and he found Yamato standing next to him, quickly dropping to a sitting position and getting situated just as the swing started ascending. "What the hell?"

"Something's up. I want to know what it is."

"It's nothing." Chiaki looked to the side and remained silent as they went up farther on the course.

"It's this way," Yamato lifted the rail and hopped off the lift. Since neither were wearing their skis, they easily made their way across the landing and past a coffee house. "The shrine is just up those stairs." He pointed up a steep and snow covered flight of stairs. "Keep your hand on the rail, if you fall it'll hurt."

"No kidding." Chiaki followed him up and looked around with a whistle. "Nice place."

The shrine was larger than he thought, even having a gate at the top of the steps and a large fenced in stone wall around the old Japanese style house. "This is the ' Ice Temple'." Yamato told him as he watched his friend walk around holding his rosary. "They say that angels can be seen here due to some holy power."

"Oh really?" He looked up at the sky, the thought of a full grown fin flashing before his mind. "That's something I'd rather not encounter."

"Says the man holding a rosary."

"Chiaki Nagoya!" A new voice came up, making them both turn. From the side a small black winged angel flew over to the person he addressed and stopped in front of him. "You're Chiaki, right?" His wings flapped behind him as he spoke. "I was asked by Arch Angel Michael to deliver a message."

"It's true…" Yamato stepped forward and inspected the surprised angel. "Chiaki you _do_ have a guardian angel!"

"That's not him," Chiaki groaned. "You chose a good time to come to me…"

"Toki. I'm a friend of Access." He looked over at Yamato. "Why can he see me?"

"This place supposedly has holy powers, but that's not the point. Toki, how is Access? Is something wrong?"

"He'll be in heaven for a while longer. I was sent to tell you not to act on your on. There is a disturbance around here."

"I thought so," Chiaki clenched his cross in his hand. "Toki, can you grant me some power?"

"I can't."

"Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on here?" Yamato waved out his hands. "You're talking to an _angel_ Chiaki! One with black wings, I thought they were supposed to be white!"

Chiaki stayed silent a moment before grinning. "I'm on a mission from god! To retrieve the holy grail!"

"This isn't the time for Monty Python references!" Yamato shouted at him angrily.

At the gate of the temple Maron gripped the hem of her jacket in disbelief. Miyako had told her that they had left so suddenly it made her nervous so she went to check up on the two. What she saw made her stomach feel sick. Chiaki was talking to a black winged angel that Yamato could apparently see as well. But what made her nervous was the angel mentioned Access… And that would mean that Chiaki knew Access…. But that would mean…

Turning, she ran through the snow as fast as she could. Her mind was foggy and in her confusion she found herself somehow lost. Looking around, she panted a bit and tried to piece everything together. '_It's not true!_' Her mind screamed as she ran again, not knowing where she was going. '_It can't be. Something has to explain this!_' She fell down and pushed herself back up with shaking arms before running again. '_There's some reason Chiaki knows Access. He's not Sinbad!_'

By the time she was through, she found herself so tired and cold that she had to stop for a moment. Looking around once more, the area began to seem a little familiar and after thinking on it, she placed herself and began to walk in the direction of the coffee shop she had seen earlier.

The warm air was a relief on her body and through a daze, she managed to take off her jacket and sit at a table. Not sure how long she was there, she was startled by a hot cup of coco being sat in front of her and her friend, Levina, sitting across the booth from the girl. "Hey, you look a little cold." She took a small sip of her own drink and smiled over it. "Is something wrong?"

Maron opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. A few moments passed and she tried again, wording it as best she could. "Levina, you're religious right?" She got a nod. It was common knowledge she was, her parents being a priest and priestess. The girl never went anywhere without her bible and cross. "Have you ever…I mean, do you know what a black winged angel is for?"

"You saw one too?"

"Too?" She looked up suddenly at the girl.

"Yeah, a few people have seen a black winged angel at the shrine around here. He was lost, looking for someone but wouldn't tell me who."

"You… you talked to it?" Maron's voice was a little uneasy. "But… But wouldn't he attack someone like you? I mean a priestess in training?"

Levina gazed at her a moment before finally looking as if she realized something. "Oh that's right, you're not very religious are you?" She giggled a little. "Black winged angels aren't bad."

"…They're not?"

"No, of course not. Just because the devil had black wings and most the angels that fell with him also had them, doesn't mean they're all evil. I mean, would I seriously have a conversation with one if they were?"

Maron took a long drink of her drink and sighed. "Can you… tell me about them?"

"Sure!" She looked pleased that she would ask and didn't hesitate to pull out a small bible she had in her jacket pocket. "Let me show you a picture…" She flipped through the pages and soon found what she was looking for and moved it over so Maron could see. "This is Michael; he's the one that threw Satan from heaven. Notice the color of his wings?"

"White," Maron said easily.

"You see, white winged angels are servants of God. They protect people on earth, watch after us. They're the ones that send God's message."

"And the black winged ones?"

Levina turned the page and showed her a picture of Michael with black wings and a sword. "The black winged angels serve under Michael now; they're the warriors of heaven. They're sent to kill demons or seal them to prevent them from hurting us or the white wings. In fact, they're probably the best angels of heaven. It must be a huge honor to have black wings."

Maron rubbed her temples in confusion. "If… if a black winged angel came to earth, what would you think it would be for?"

"To protect someone from something."

"_I'll protect you!_" Chiaki's voice shot through Maron's mind. "_Look at my actions and decide for yourself why I do what I do… I can't tell you right now, I don't know it all myself. But know this Jeanne; you're not my rival by choice. There's something else I can't say. But trust me!"_

Maron looked down in her drink and smiled to herself. '_I trust him…No matter if I understand it or not…_'

_"There's something I want to tell you…_" Chiaki's voice drifted through her mind once again and she realized that this was what he had meant those times.

"Levina?"

"Yes?"

Maron smiled happily. "So a black winged angel is a good thing?"

"Most definitely. Demons are granted leather wings, like bats. So don't be fooled just because their wings are dark."

'_He has a reason!_' Maron smiled to herself again. '_A reason he's doing this…to protect me. But from what?'_ Taking another drink of her coco she thought about what it could possibly be. True he was protecting her from demons, but that was obvious. What was that thing that he couldn't tell her? What was it that made him so determined to checkmate before her?

"You look a little confused?"

"Eh? Oh, no, yes, I don't know." Maron sighed a moment before smiling at her again. "Actually you've really helped me out a lot. I just need to find out something for myself later." She gave her friend an encouraging look and slowly finished off her drink. '_I trust you Chiaki. You're hiding it to protect me, I understand that. I'll wait till you talk to me about it and we'll work through this…somehow_.'

* * *

"My best friend talks to angels." Yamato sat down on the steps of the temple and put his head in his hands. "And I thought I had it rough. But what's this power you want, Chiaki?" 

"I can't tell you, Bud." Chiaki smirked at him. "Trust me, its better if you didn't know."

"Or maybe I already know." He looked back at the ground. "Remember what I said about Sinbad a few days ago?"

"What part?" Chiaki sat down by his friend and let Toki sit on his shoulder.

"What he does when he does it. When he steals. It's like magic. Magic or something else helping him. Like a guardian." He eyed Toki.

"I see." Chiaki looked forward. His friend had just all but insinuated that he thought he was Sinbad. "Well then, I guess you'll stop chasing after him now that you know that he has angels on his side, whoever he may be."

"Fat chance." Yamato leaned back an the steps and smirked. "He's my goal. When I catch him, it'll mean that I've finally changed. I'm someone who can stand up for himself. And then I can live fully."

"Gah, you're going to be the death of me." He laughed and was soon joined by his friend. "I thought you did it to impress Maron?"

"Yeah, originally. But after a while I came to decide that that was a pointless struggle...Why do you do it?" He asked after they calmed down. "I know it's not for money or for fame. Why are angels involved? What's going on here?

"Well,"

"He can't say." Toki spoke up, taking to the air and flying in front of them. "No wonder Access has such a hard time with you, you're so careless!" He threw out one arm. "Anyway, Sinbad, Don't do anything before Access returns. He's going through some serious training right now. If a demon attacks do _not_ engage at any cost, you understand?"

"Demons?"

"Smooth move, pal." Chiaki grinned at the angel, who had a hand clamped over his mouth.

"A-anyway, I'm going back now." He flew back more and turned. "I forbid you to do anything irrational!"

"Demons…?" Yamato looked over at Chiaki. "What did he mean demons?"

Any response he might have given was cut off by a light beeping sound coming from the boy's pocket. Reaching into it, he pulled out the rosary and looked at the gem flashing on it. "Linchou."

"Yeah?"

"Go hide." When the boy didn't make a move to leave, he turned and yelled at him. "NOW!" That did the trick and he scrambled up the stairs and slid down, looking around the corner of the temple at him. The beeping grew steadier and he turned to look at the steep stairs leading up to where he was. Slowly a figure came up to him, dressed in loose red fighting pants and matching top. Long blond hair flew behind him in a ponytail and a black belt wrapped around his waist with several gold markings on it.

Ken stood in front of him with a grin on his face, eyes clouded by a black fog. "Chiaki. Good to see you again."

He dropped into a fighting stance. "Get out of his body."

"Ohhh, so you know huh?" Ken slowly slipped into a stance. "Well then, boy, let's just see how you do against me in this body…"

Chiaki flew back in the air before he could even react, slamming against the floor and sliding harshly on the frozen ground. He grunted and flip kicked back up and caught a punch thrown at him, only to have it keep moving and still hit his face.

'_Oh man…_' Chiaki felt his eye start to swell. '_This is not good_.' He blocked another attack but the power of the demon sent him literally flying through the air and into the side wall of the building. '_The demon is using its powers through him… I have to checkmate or there's no way I'll be able to win this._'

Ken walked ran up to him and reared back his fist to strike again. Chiaki brought his hands up to block but the attack never landed. He heard several small thwacks against the wall he was by and when he opened his eyes he saw Ken's fighting shirt tacked to the wall with playing cards. Both of them looked to the side and say a shaking Yamato with a stack of cards in one hand and a single one in his other, ready to be thrown. Small drops of blood dripped over the razor edged cards from his scared grip on them. "N-Next time I'll aim for something besides your cloths!" He challenged, voice wavering.

Ken pulled himself free, ripping his cloths in the process. "I'll enjoy this some other time, then. A real challenge is one on one." He turned and walked away, leaving Chiaki to sink to his knees.

"You okay?" Yamato ran over to him and kneeled down. "What was that?" He looked over at Ken's retreating back. "Is that a demon in him? Is that what you do?"

"Yeah," Chiaki weakly pushed himself up. "That's what I do. Right now my angel is in heaven and I can't transform into Sinbad…" He looked over to the side where Ken was no longer visible. "Until then… we're all in danger."

Yamato looked down at his hands and placed the cards back into the case that came with them. "I guess I won't be showing you how to throw these today after all." His hands had several cuts and scrapes on them, bleeding a lot for being so small. "Man these things are worse than face cuts." He looked around to see what he could wrap them up in but came up with nothing.

"Come on; let's get back to the cabin." Chiaki started walking back to the path that lead to the ski lifts while gingerly rubbing his face and nursing his bruised side. "And Yamato?"

"Yeah?" He felt a little strange hearing his name called for the first time by his friend, instead of Linchou.

"Anyone who can risk themselves for their friend _is_ a real man. You don't have to prove anything by catching me." He turned back around and started walking again.

* * *

"What happened to you two?" Miyako yelled at them as soon as they walked in the door of the cabin. "We have been worried sick!" 

Maron walked into the room from her bedroom just in time to hear her friend freak out about Chiaki's black eye, then proceeding to Yamato's cut up hands. "Ah, you see, Chiaki fell down and I cut my hands on some ice trying to help him up…" Yamato grinned lamely.

"You're such a bother!" Miyako pulled him over to the sink and turned on the water. "Here, wash the blood off, I'll get the bandages."

"Should I bother asking if you're okay?" Maron whispered as Chiaki walked past her to him room.

"Something like this can't keep me down."

"I know. You heal fast." She looked over at him, torn between hugging him or running from him. She took a long slow intake of breath. "Chiaki?"

"Yes?"

"You wanted to tell me something?" He froze a moment hearing her words. "Want to talk about it?"

He took her hand and lead her back to his room, slowly closing the door behind himself. The pair walked to his bed and sat down. Instantly Chiaki leaned forward and looked at the ground. "Well, this is really weird."

"I know." She leaned against the wall behind him and hugged her knees. "But it had to be done sooner or later."

He felt his lips turn up into a smirk. "You know I know who you are."

"Mm." She nodded.

"And you're still here."

"Mm," she repeated her hum and rested her chin on her knees. "I want to know why. I trust you Chiaki, so please tell me the truth."

Groaning, he put his face in his hands. "You know who I am too…"

"Mm,"

He let out a long sigh. "It happened about the same time I met you, I guess." He heard Maron shift lightly from behind and sat next to him. "Access ran into me on the street. Already I was thinking about running away from home, but I didn't have the motive. When he told me what was going on, I took the chance to leave. Even if it meant being a thief." He looked over at her and offered a small smile. "At first, Access told me my mission was to make you stop being a thief so you wouldn't seal anymore."

"Why?"

He broke eye contact with her and looked back down. "I can't tell you right now. Not until Access comes back and I get him to tell me the part of the story that he has left out. All I can say right now is we're both in grave danger. Something is coming soon and we have to be ready for it."

"After you left?" She changed the topic back to his story, filing away what she just heard for later.

"After I left, I moved in next to you, of course. At first, I tried making you stop being a thief, like I promised Access… But after a while I couldn't do it anymore. I… Kinda started to like you. Could you tell?"

"Hardly," she snorted. "you've only kissed me a hundred times and felt me up more than that."

"You're so cute I can't help it."

"Back to the story." She stopped his hand before it reached her. "Please, I want to know Chiaki."

"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I told Access that my main goal was to protect Jeanne and seal when I could. He took it really well, he had come to earth to try and protect someone as well."

"Who?"

"Fin," He answered before he could stop himself.

"Fin? Why? She told me that you two worked for the devil!"

Chiaki let out a loud, sick laugh. "She would." He felt Maron get angry at him so he continued before she could speak. "Access loves her. I can tell. Quit obviously. He was sent to earth to stop Fin from finding you and to take her back to heaven. The reasons were kept from me, said he couldn't say that information. He's already in deep trouble for turning me into Sinbad. If he was to fail at stopping Jeanne from appearing then another angel would have come in his place to finish things."

"Finish things?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "But he didn't like whatever it was. Promised to grant me one wish if I would help him."

"What is your wish?"

"I want my mother back."

"But surely you know that…"

"I know. She can't come back."

"Then why?"

He looked over at her. "Because you sighed in front of your mailbox. If it wasn't you, if I didn't feel anything for the girl, I would have stopped. But it _was_ you," he looked forward again. "And I knew that I had to stop what was happening from happening. I wanted to protect you. Access granted me that power."

"And after that?"

"And after that, here we are." He leaned back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "My goal as Sinbad is to make sure you don't get hurt. The reason I seal is secret until I know everything. I can't hurt you with false information."

"So it was all for me?" She spoke softly, putting her hand over her heart. "The reason you steal? The reason you fight?"

"I told you, you're my main goal. I want to protect you."

"Chiaki?"

"Yes?"

"I trust you." She looked over and down at him. "No matter how what, I'll believe in you. So please, believe in me too?"

"Maron…" he pulled her down on top of him and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry…about everything… how I can't tell you…"

"It's okay…" she closed her eyes. "You're not here to hurt me, that's all that matters right now." Maron let him hold her and contently listened to the sound of his heart.

"Maron?" She slowly lifted her head and met his eyes. A moment later she found his lips on hers and contently allowed him to kiss her. When it ended another followed and she felt his hands rub her back gently.

"Hey, Chiaki, I- holy hell!" Yamato stopped in the doorway after walking in on them. Maron quickly shot away from him and adjusted her shirt, blushing madly.

"Yamato!" Chiaki sat up in bed. "I was _this_ close man, what the hell?"

"Ugh! Men!" Maron shoved him back on the bed and walked out of the room. "Good night guys."

"Maron!" She stopped and looked back over at her shoulder at him. Their eyes met and she sent him a small playful smile. "Sweet dreams, Maron."

"You too, Chiaki. And you too, Linchou."

"Ah. Sweet dreams." Yamato looked back over at his friend and shook his head. "Go to bed man. Lord knows I need the sleep."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay updating, hope the length makes up for it. 


	5. Calm Before the Storm

My eyes opened slowly, bringing the dark night into focus around me. I had waited four days for him to come back, but it looked like I was on my own for now. Too many people had been hurt for me to stay silent anymore. Slowly I slipped out of bed and looked over at my roommate. Yamato was sound asleep still so I crept over to the door and picked up the dark cloths I had set there earlier. The walk to the front door was successful and I slipped into the freezing night without waking anyone. Now finally free to make a little noise, I dressed myself in a dark green long sleeved shirt and pitch black pants. Even though I couldn't transform into Sinbad, I could still seal a demon. All I had to do was avoid Ken.

**Snowcap Mountain V**

**By: Satashi**

Chiaki panted lightly as he reaches the ski lifts. He had hoped they stayed running all night long but apparently they didn't. Cursing under his breath, he looked up the mountain, dimly illuminated by the moon in the sky. Pondering on how he was going to make his ascent, he rubbed his arms and involuntarily shivered. "Dang it's cold."

"Think so?" A voice made him turn and look on top of the operating control room for the lifts.

"Jeanne!"

"Snow ski version 2.0!" She proclaimed to him, twirling to show her sweater and thick pants. "Guaranteed to keep out the cold!"

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her as she lightly jumped down to him. "If anyone sees you here, Jeanne will be narrowed down to the people in our class!"

"I won't be seen," She assured him before looking up the mountain. "So it's up there? At the shrine no doubt."

"How did you know?"

"It's fairly obvious." Jeanne sighed. "Don't forget that I've been doing this just as long as you. I was hoping you wouldn't come out tonight." She looked over at him in the cold and softened. Slowly she reached up to him and touched his cheek. "Go back, Chiaki. I don't want you to get hurt."

His eyes narrowed and he jumped up onto a rail, then onto a fence, then up onto the control room Jeanne was on just before. Finally he jumped again and grabbed the wire that the swings were welded too and swung himself up to stand on it. "I'm perfectly able to handle myself. I can't let you seal it, Jeanne!"

The girl simply hopped up onto the wire and gave him a gentle look. "I don't mean it like that, Chiaki. Even just getting up here is rough for you like that. Just imagine what it'll be like later?" She turned and run up the wire effortlessly. Before Chiaki could even reply, she had already made it far enough away where she couldn't hear him if he had said anything. '_This is a snap after jumping rooftops,_' she thought to herself as she steadily went up the mountain. '_A lot faster than those stupid lifts as well…_' She shivered. The thief actually felt safer running along the thick steel cable they were attached to than sitting in the swing itself.

Once at the top of the lifts, Jeanne easily flipped off onto the ground and scanned the area. It seemed like no one was stationed up this far for the night so she easily ran past the coffee house and to the temple stairs. The girl took them seven at a time and landed in a couch during her last jump.

The area was completely empty.

"Strange." She thought aloud as she stood up and walked around. Her petite Clair didn't offer her any sort of help on locating the demon and she stood in the middle of the house with a confused look on her face. "But… It has to be here." She growled and closed her eyes a moment in thought. "The lounge!"

Jeanne sprang into action and quickly darted out the doors of the temple and ran steadily to the stairs, which she jumped entirely. Her body rolled on the ground when she landed to absorb the impact and before she could hardly stand up again, she was once again running.

Chiaki slid into the building slowly, carefully closing the window behind him as he did so. His rosary was vibrating against his chest as a warning, making him slink low to the floor and stay in the shadows. '_Ironic that the picture of him that he didn't even want was the one that possessed him… I knew I should have checked here before the shrine._' a black pin came to his call and he held it in between his fingers. '_I may not have as much spiritual energy as I do when I'm Sinbad, but I can still do things like this!'_

The pin flew through the room silently toward the painting. The thief held his breath unconsciously as he watched it fly. The pin almost made it before being thrown off course by a sharp wind coming from the other side of the room. He cursed and quickly ran forward; clapping his hands and making several more pins appear between them as he spread out his arms. "One of them has to hit!" The pins were all tossed at the same time, but were burned to ashes by a dark energy beam that almost got him as well.

Jumping back, he avoided another blast and finally managed to make out Ken as he charged. Chiaki cut a back flip and landed on his hand, spinning his feet around and got the street fighter square in the chest with the surprise attack. "Sorry Ken, I'm going to have to hurt your body!" Standing up, Chiaki formed more pins between his fingers and threw them all, catching a few into the chest of his opponent and drawing blood. '_Guess I can't seal that way after all…_'

"Fool!" Ken ran forward and punched so hard that Chiaki felt the blow even though the attack didn't directly land on him. It was followed by a kick and an uppercut, both of which didn't land but still robbed the boy of his breath. The thief took a chance opening and lashed out his own attacks, pressing his precious energy reserves into them. The move worked and soon he found himself landing a few blows onto the fighter in front of him.

The advantage didn't last long, however, and soon the lack of energy was starting to show in Chiaki's attacks. One after another his punches were blocked and too soon he found himself back on the defensive. '_It's no good,_' he growled to himself as he was thrown out the large window of the lounge and into the freezing cold. '_My energy supplies are spent. I'm on my own against him now._'

Chiaki stood up and wiped a little blood from his mouth. Any rational person would have used the opportunity to flee, but he stood his ground determined. His recklessness was answered by a large energy blast being shot through the very window his body had crashed through earlier. He danced to the side of it and engaged once again, furiously punching and kicking as best he could.

Finally Ken saw his chance and grabbed the wrist of a hand that was thrown at him. The move caught his opponent off guard and allowed him to slam his fist into his gut, doubling him over. "Time to end this! Dragon!" Ken's fist was engulfed in a black aura as he hit Chiaki's bent over chest, knocking him into the air. "Uppercut!" His named move landed on the body, sailing him farther into the air. "Whirl-wind kick!" Ken jumped after him and spun around, nailing his foot into Chiaki's side and sending him across the snow and into a tree, leaving several spots of blood in the white snow.

Jeanne finally managed to get back to the lounge just in time to see her friend get hit by the attack. "Chiaki!" She began to run for him as fast as she could, kicking up snow behind her as she ran.

"Die!" Ken moved his hands behind himself and formed a ball of energy. "Hadoken!" The fireball shot forward toward the fallen boy, leaving a trail of melted snow in its wake.

'_I won't make it!_' Jeanne's world slowed down as she watched helplessly as her secret love was about to be killed. "Chiakiii!" Her eyes blurred with a splash of tears when he looked up helplessly at the oncoming attack that would rob him of his life.

Sudden blackness enveloped him as the explosion occurred. Wind rushed around him harshly, but for some reason he didn't feel the pain he thought he would. "Can't leave you alone for a second can I, Sinbad?"

The blackness was removed from him, and he realized that it was actually wings being wrapped around him. A few scattered black angel feathers fluttered around him as he weakly turned and starred at his partner in shock. "… Access?"

"You know it." The angel grinned down at him. He wore light leather and silk armor, complete with a sword strapped to his side sheathed in what looked to be like the leather from a bat wing. The most startling feature was that he was about six feet tall now. "He's our target?"

"Y-yeah," Chiaki felt Jeanne finally reach him and cradle him in her arms, crying. "Maron, ow, not so tight."

Access didn't bother with the questions about how she knew. "Sinbad, I have the power you wanted. But I won't lie to you, it's intense."

"I want it." Chiaki looked up at him. "I can't go on like this. I have to protect her. Not like this…"

"Jeanne, distract him for a while." He took Chiaki from her, much to her displeasure, and laid him on the ground. "Close your eyes. This won't take long."

Jeanne swallowed before turning to glare at Ken, who seemed bored with watching them. "I won't forgive anyone who hurts my loved ones," She challenged. Dashing forward, she lashed out her ribbon, which he dodged. Several attacks lashed out at her but each was avoided nimbly. After a moment she tried her ribbon again, only to have it burnt by a powerful energy surge. "Class: A demon, huh?" She asked as she dodged another attack and countered with her own.

Ken faked a punch then swept to his knees and lashed out his foot, neatly clipping Jeanne's ankles and toppling her over onto the snow. With a flip in the air he prepared to land on her, fist raised to strike.

"Don't think so." The punch was caught by a grip on his wrist. Jeanne looked up, seeing Ken on one side and Sinbad on the other. "Go away." He spoke evenly before slinging Ken several yards with a flip of his wrist. With the threat temporarily gone, he helped her to her feet and held her when she realized her ankle had been sprung.

Her breath caught in her throat at seeing him. Light blue triangular strips graced each of his cheeks and his hair had grown several feet, now hanging to his waist in a loose white flowing ponytail. His normal trench coat was still there, only now outlined in the same blue that was on his cheeks. "…Wow." Was all she could manage.

A small explosion rang out in the direction where Ken had been thrown and before Jeanne even knew what was happening he was in front of them ready to strike.

Sinbad easily caught the attack while still looking at Jeanne.

"You don't give up do you?" He looked over at him slowly and with a quick flip, tossed him over his shoulder and into the ground while still somehow managing to keep the girl safely in his arms. "You'll be sealed here!" He drew his sword with one hand and sliced the air, severing the demon's hold on the man. The demonic scream rang out as the evil being was forced from its host body. "The future for you is death," He told the demon before flinging a small dagger through its body and crashing the window behind him and finally landing in the painting hanging in the small lounge.

"Just like that." Access said with a smirk, walking over to them.

"Access, you're huge man!" Sinbad finally allowed himself to be amazed. "Whoa, you look sharp! A sword too?"

"Yeah!" he grinned like an idiot, one fang showing over his lip. "It's a special sword. The sheath was made just for me." His eyes lost a little bit of its shine but he quickly regained it. "You have no idea how much I like it."

"Access…" The angel turned to look at Jeanne, who was now being carried by Sinbad. "You're a warrior of heaven… right?"

"First class." He nodded to her. "I just got promoted." He yawned loudly and stretched. "I haven't slept in four days, man I'm exhausted." He rubbed his shoulder and kneeled down to pick up Ken. "So, Jeanne knows huh?" The angel made his way to the lounge and paid the man on a couch inside of it.

"Yeah," Sinbad replied easily, following him and ignoring Jeanne's constant inspection of his hair and cheeks. "It's okay, we talked it through. But there are still some parts missing."

"Tomorrow man, tomorrow." Access yawned again and finally started to head toward their cabin. "You wouldn't believe Michael, man. He's a machine. Trained me since the moment I got there almost."

"You'll have to tell me about it." Sinbad looked at the cabin and made a shushing motion to Access. Slowly his new powers faded form him and Chiaki stood where Sinbad had been moments before. In his arms Maron looked up at him, disappointed that the long hair was now gone. "For now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hellacious day."

The three snuck into the house slowly and Chiaki grinned as he walked into his room, still carrying Maron. "Ch-Chiaki…" she whispered up at him, grabbing his shirt collar in her fist. "This isn't my room, put me down."

"And walk on your bad ankle? I think not." He made his way over to his bed, where he sat her down.

"But Linchou!" she hissed in a whisper as he took off his shirt.

"Is fast asleep." He cooed back at her. A moment later she was robbed of her shirt and before she could protest, found another one shoved over her head. She quickly pulled it down to cover herself and managed to get out of her pants while he was changing into some pajamas as well. Thankfully the shirt she was given went clear past her knees and she realized that it was the top half to one of his pajama set.

Finally Chiaki slipped into his bed and gently pulled her in with him, wrapping his arms around her waist and smelling her hair. "I can't believe you," She whispered into his chest, blushing. "The closer to death you are, the more turned on you get when it's over…" She took a breath. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine, don't worry about me." He spoke into her air and grinned at Access, who had apparently sat down and leaned against the wall, falling asleep already. "My partner gave me a great new power."

Maron sighed and spoke into his chest. "Chiaki, why do you do this to me?"

"Because you don't want to be alone…" he closed his eyes and wrapped one arm around her, pushing her head deeper against his chest. "Because I promised myself that I'd be there when you wanted to cry."

Maron closed her eyes and slowly wrapped her arms around him, letting a tear fall down her cheek. "I'm scared," she admitted to him. "Fin has been gone so long… Why did Access go to heaven and come back already? Why didn't Fin tell him to tell me something? Where is she?" She looked up at him and felt her bottom lip shake lightly. "Chiaki, where is Fin?"

Not being able to say anything to her, her pulled her back against his chest and kissed her hair. "I'm sorry, Maron. Tomorrow. You'll know tomorrow." His eyes looked across the room over at Access, who was in a deep slumber.

* * *

Chiaki awoke a few hours later quite suddenly. His stomach lurched and he quickly scrambled out of his bed, nearly knocking Maron over in the process. The girl looked around in a confused state, finally catching the sight of her partner stumbling out of the dimly lit room at two in the morning. He continued to wobbly make his way to the bathroom where he fell to his knees and threw up.

Tears came to his eyes as he got sick a second time and finally managed to fall backwards against the wall and pant. "Chiaki? What's wrong?" Maron knelt beside him and reached out to him. "Oh my god, you're burning up!"

The boy closed his eyes and tried to talk to her through gasp of air. "I…don't know…" he swallowed thickly and motioned for her to look away as he lost it a third time. When he was done, Maron eased him back to lean on the wall and wiped his face with a freshly wetted cold washrag. "I'm hot," He told her weakly.

"Just relax. You'll be okay." She wiped the sweat from his face and neck. "Calm down, sweetie… Breathe." Maron gently took his hand and rubbed his palm. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"My body feels like its on fire," he was close to passing out. "Like I have the flu and decided to run track or something."

"Making such a racket at four in the morning, what's wrong with you?" Yamato sleepily knelt down next to his friend. "You look like hell man." He let Chiaki grin at him before continuing. "You going to hurl?" When he got a shake of the head, he helped him to his feet and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Back to bed with you then."

Maron followed them back to the room and watched Yamato gently lay his friend down. "I think he got too cold and got sick. I, um, heard him and came in the room to check up on him, sorry for coming in unannounced."

If Yamato knew that she had been sleeping there, he didn't show it. Instead he looked down at his friend and gave him a lopsided smile. "I'll go to town and get you some flu medicine later on. You're so much trouble, I swear."

Chiaki grinned lamely at him and closed his eyes. "Man, go away." He sighed. "Just let me sleep will you?"

Maron walked over to him and wiped his face down one last time with the washrag before kneeling down by his bed. "Stay in bed and get some sleep, okay? I'll be in the next room if you need me." When she got a nod she stood up and walked out of the room, glancing over at the still sleeping Access as she did so.

* * *

"Oh man, what a nice nap." Access stretched out his arms and wings before standing to do the same for his legs. "I feel so much better."

"Access!" Maron looked over at him and glared. "It's already past four; you've been asleep for almost fourteen hours!"

"Guess everyone else is gone since you're yelling at me, huh?" He walked over to her by Chiaki's bed. The boy looked up at him weakly, awoken by Maron's yelling. Access let out a sharp whistle. "You must feel like crap huh? Magic backlash is a pain in the ass isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Maron sat on Chiaki's bed and took his hand. "What's wrong with him?"

"Simple really. You ever use a lot of energy one night as Jeanne and then the next day devour everything in your kitchen?" the girl blushed, confirming that she probably had done that more than just a few times. "That's your body telling you that you're low on magical energy and need to replenish it. Food is the ideal choice since your body already knows how to do that on its own."

"But this never happened to me before!" Maron pointed down at Chiaki, scared. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be just fine." Access shrugged it off. "Something like this won't keep him down long. I went through it too up in heaven. By tomorrow he'll be okay again. But anyway, I just gave Sinbad a lot of spiritual energy, his body doesn't know how to react to it, so it's trying to dispose of it anyway it can. Did you throw up anything?" He got a nod so he continued. "Just the reverse of before. Instead of replenishing his energy, his body is trying to get rid of it. Once it gets used to it, however, he'll be normal again."

"I see…" Maron visibly calmed down. "So he'll be fine then. Good."

Access walked out of the room and into the kitchen. "Ah man, I'm starving."

Maron quickly ran after him. "Access! What if someone walks by and sees that stuff floating around?" She motioned to him as he started carrying things to the counter to make a sandwich. He paused a moment, obviously not thinking about it. "Here, let me do it. I want you to start talking." She took the things from him and pointed to the table. "Go sit."

The angel gave her a small lopsided smile and did as he was told. "Well. Hmmm…" He stalled a moment while trying to think of how to start his tale. "I guess I don't really have to start off with 'I'm not the Devil's advocate' do I?" She shook her head slowly. "Good. Lessee…" He paused again and finally propped his elbow on the table and put his face in his hand. "Jeez, this is complicated. I don't know how to say this."

"Bluntly always works." Maron sat the sandwich down in front of him and took a seat for herself. "This is weird for me too, but I'm willing to listen, even after everything has been done."

Access gripped his hair in his fist and growled. "I don't want to tell you this but I know I have to…" He inhaled through his nose. "Jeanne, Sinbad and I never worked for the devil to seal demons… Fin was."

Maron looked at him a moment. Another moment went by and before he could react, her hand lashed out and slapped him across the face. He turned his head in shock and started at the wall, bringing his hand up to touch his cheek before looking back at the fuming girl. "How _dare_ you say that about my fin?" She accused angrily. "After I said I would listen to you!"

"Jeanne, I'm sorry, but it's true!" He tried to meet her eyes, but she turned away from him. "She didn't go to deliver the power to God like she told you; she went to Hell and gave them to the devil! I don't want to believe it either, but that's what happened! Now she's going to come back and use this to break God's barrier around you. You have to accept this and be prepared before-"

Maron stood up in her chair and walked off. "I hope you choke on that." She scoffed at him before grabbing her jacket and walking out the front door.

"Oh damnit." Access cursed and slid back in his chair to walk back into Chiaki's room. "Oi, Sinbad, how are you?"

"Not so loud, my head is killing me." Chiaki looked over at him. His skin had a light shine of sweat over it and his breath was still faster than normal. "Did Maron leave? I heard the door slam."

"Oh she left all right." He sat down roughly on the bed and leaned over. "Sorry Sinbad. I told her about Fin and she bolted on me."

"Crap." He sat up groggily and almost threw up again. His angel pushed him back down. "I have to go after her."

"No, you can't move until your body accepts that power. You're lucky to have made it back to the cabin before you felt the side effects. If you hadn't immediately used them you probably would have passed out in the snow."

"Ugh." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Access tell me exactly _why_ Fin is doing this. All I know is that she fell from heaven."

"It's a long story." He looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I should start at the beginning. I-" His voice was cut off by the sound of the front door opening and two people coming in.

"Chiaki, we're back!" Miyako called out to him. "How are you feeling?" the front door closed and a moment later Miyako and Yamato walked into the bedroom.

"Gah!" Access barley managed to move from his spot before being sat on by the girl. "Ack!" he stumbled away from Yamato, who almost walked into him. "This is nuts!" He leapt back and in a small poofing sound, became smaller once again. "I guess I should stay in this form until everything is clear…"

"Here, take some of this." Yamato gave him a few pills and a glass of water. "It'll make you feel better."

* * *

Maron's breath came out in angry puffs as she walked to the ski lifts. '_I can't believe him!_' she fumed mentally. '_After I trusted him enough to sit and talk with him! How could he say that!_' she got on the lift and pulled the bar down. '_Telling me that fin was working for the devil!_' Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her petite Claire beeping at her and she looked around quickly to find the source of the disturbance. The beeping started going faster as she reached the top of the slope and when she could get off the lift she instantly started running.

The path lead her near the Ice Temple, where she ran to the side of it and pressed her back against the cold wall. Slowly she looked around the corner and dropped her Clair when she saw who was around it. "F…in?" She mouthed out softly, moving where she could be seen. A five and a half foot tall angel with snow white wings and green hair stood in front of a girl who was hugging her knees. She wore a tight fitting black outfit that showed her legs and arms. Black string was tied around her neck in a make-shift necklace. Beside her a demon fog stood, scaring the girl that was on the ground. "Fin!"

The angel turned to look at her. "Seems like we were seen," She spoke slyly, glaring at the girl.

"Fin! Fin!" Maron ran to her, tears splashing her eyes. "You're back! I missed you so much!" she almost managed to hug the angel before she had her arms slapped away. "Fin?"

"Don't touch me!" She yelled at her, glaring. "I've been so sick of you always hugging me for so long! Don't you have any idea how much I hate that?" Fin snarled. "I didn't think I'd be able to keep working with you until I collected enough pieces to return to hell and give them to Satan."

Maron's world stopped. "What… do you mean?"

Fin laughed evilly, covering her mouth with the back of one hand. "You silly little girl, did you actually believe the story about me being sent from God? Don't make me laugh! Thanks to you, I managed to get enough power for the devil to turn the war in our favor!"

"Fin… don't joke like that…" Maron reached out again to hug her, but she took to the air quickly.

"Don't! Don't touch me! I hate you; I hate you always touching me!" Her eyes moistened lightly. "Don't you ever touch me again, Maron!" She swept out her hand. "Attack her, demon!"

"With pleasure!" the black demon like fog turned to Maron and swept out his hand, knocking her against the wall and down by the girl they had been talking to.

"Maron!" Levina looked at her a moment before grabbing her and pulling the girl close. "What are we going to do? I'm so scared!"

"Fin, don't leave me!" Maron ignored her words and screamed up to her angel as she flew away. "Fin! Fin!"

"I'm your opponent!" the demon snarled at her. It reached back to sling and energy ball at them, but it was cut off before it could be launched by a small black sphere.

"Your evil ends here," A small black winged angel spoke coldly, drawing its sword and placing it in front of him. "Be gone!" he sliced it out in front of him, breaking the air and sending a large gash of wind through the demon's body, killing it.

"Toki!" Levina called out to the angel and quickly ran over to him. "Toki you came!"

"Of course…"

Maron was still on the ground looking up into the air in shock, even though Fin was long gone. "It was true…" She whispered out, dumbstruck. "What Access said… it was true…"

Toki flew over to Maron and landed on Levina's outstretched hand when she offered it to him to perch on. "What did they want?" He asked her softly. Maron shook her head silently so he turned to look up at the red headed girl holding him. "Levina?"

"They wanted me to tell them where the black winged angel was. But they didn't say your name, they kept calling him Access. Access Time."

"They don't know I'm here," he mused, putting his hand on his chin. "Jeanne, where is Access?" Maron didn't answer him so he spoke up again. "Jeanne!"

"Huh?" She turned to look at him. "What?"

"Where is Access?" he repeated a little softer.

"At my cabin." She slowly got to her feet and allowed her friend to help her. "Levina, why were you here?"

"Toki has been staying with me the last few days," She told her. "He was supposed to go back to heave but he chose to stay here for some reason, although he won't tell me what. But Maron, why did he call you Jeanne?"

"Now's not the time for that." Toki hopped off her hands and flew over to Maron. "Jeanne, go back to your cabin and stay with your friends. I don't want you going anywhere by yourself, got it?"

"And you?"

"I'm going to stay with Levina for now; she can see me even away from the temple. You get ready for the battle. I'll protect everyone else." He looked away from her and down at the ground. "I want to see Fin again…The Fin I remember."

* * *

Maron slowly opened the front door to her cabin and stepped in. She had walked around aimlessly for the better part of the day before finally taking Toki's advice and returning back to her temporary home. To her surprise, she found Chiaki in the kitchen making himself some toast. "Here, let me." She said instinctively, walking over to him and taking the things from him. "Sit down; you don't need to be walking around." She busied herself with his snack. "Do you want grape or strawberry jam?"

"Are you okay?"

"Go sit down. Now." Maron prepared for him and soon joined the boy at the table. She watched him eat slowly and refused to meet Access's eyes when he flew into the room, still in his smaller form. "How are you feeling? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"Actually it's noticeably getting better." He grinned weakly at her. "I feel sapped of everything, ironic since this happened because I have too _much_ energy." He finished off the small amount of food and sighed. "I just want to keep this down." Chiaki spared her a glance and finally made himself ask. "About earlier…"

"I know." She stood up and walked over to him, taking his hand. "Come on." Maron lead him back into the bedroom. "Where are the other two?"

"Out to dinner in town. They just came back to give me the medicine. Said I needed rest so they left me alone to sleep."

"I see." Maron sat down on the bed and when Chiaki did the same she leaned over and put her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Hold me, please."

Chiaki did as he was asked and felt his heart break when she started to shiver in his arms and finally break into tears. '_She just now must be accepting it…_' He thought sadly as he stroked her hair.

"I saw her today," She spoke between her tears. "She grew up into a full angel." Her voice caught but she went on. "She said she hated me…"

"That's not how she is," Access spoke up finally, sitting down on the bed- still in his smaller form. "There's a story behind all of this. I finally have permission to share it with you both." He took a deep breath and waited for Maron to calm down a little bit before he went on. "Bear with me until it's over. I guess I should start at the begging… It all started about a year ago…"

* * *

A/N: I think two more chapters and this story will be completed. I hope you enjoyed and look forward to sharing the next chapter with you in a few days. 


	6. A Little Slice of Heaven

Sighing, I flew around heaven's main palace in search of Access. Of all the angels that had come to celebrate our achievements, he was the one that I had really wanted most to see that wasn't there. Three of us were chosen to go to earth for a few days, ironically all three were part of the four of us in our close 'circle'. Access would be left alone and I knew that it upset him greatly. The poor boy was looking forward to it more than all of us combined. Finally I realized where he must be and took to the air. Whenever he was upset he always seemed to go to the same place: the garden.

**Snowcap Mountain VI**

**By: Satashi**

"Access! I know you're here!" Fin called out, looking around. "Where are you?" She turned around in a slow circle and finally spotted his legs out on a tree limb. Flying over to it, she crossed her arms when she saw him laid back against the tree with a half eaten apple in his hand. "Access, I keep telling you, if you eat unripe fruit the next season won't be as good!"

"Shut up, I like it like this better." He took another bite of the bitter sour fruit and chewed it slowly. The wind blew around them lightly, tossing his blondish brown waist length hair across his face.

"You're so difficult." Fin sat on the tree limb as well and crossed her legs. "Why didn't you come to the celebration?"

He shrugged before replying. "I celebrated with you guys last night. I wanted to come out here instead."

"It'll only be four days. We'll be back before you know it."

Access took another bite out of his fruit and chewed angrily. "I should have been chosen."

"That's the kind of attitude that's probably the reason why you weren't," She scolded him, pointing her finger. "You always do those things!"

"Do not!" He climbed to his feet and spread out his white wings.

"Look at you, already getting angry!" she stood up as well. "Toki said there was something you wanted to tell me, so tell me so I can leave if you're going to be all huffy about it!"

Access faltered a moment and fin sighed at him and turned to leave. "Fin, wait!" He got her to turn around. "Um…" He gripped his fist and shouted out what he had to say before he lost his nerve. "Come back soon, okay?"

Fin blinked a moment before smiling at him. "Okay. I will."

"And… when you do…" He blushed lightly. "I want to tell you something. So will you listen to it?"

"As if!" She hopped off the tree limb and flew away slowly. "Who'd want you listen to you're loud mouth?"

"Fin!"

She turned and laughed at him. "I'm just kidding! Of course I'll listen to you! So, don't forget okay? It's a promise?"

"Yeah!" He flew up next to her and smiled. "It's a promise." Access offered her his pinky, which she took while giggling. The two shook it three times before letting go and grinning at each other.

"Eating unripe fruit again I see." A new voice came up, catching their attention. "Access, you shouldn't be around an angel like Fin. Your bad habits may rub off on her."

"Seth," Access growled lightly. He had never liked him. The angel was looking up at him with a smug look on his face. Large black wings graced his back and black hair splashed to the middle of his back. Everywhere he went he seemed to leave a small trail of black feathers behind him. "Why don't you go train or something? You're not welcome here."

"Don't be so rude," Fin whispered to him. "Just because you don't like him doesn't give you a reason to act like that."

"Upset that you weren't chosen to descend to earth?" Seth taunted up to him. "Or maybe that Lord Michael still hasn't accepted you, despite how you always helping him out?"

"Access' wings look just fine as they are!" Fin called down to him before Access could. "He doesn't need black wings to prove his loyalty; his actions speak much louder than mere words!" She grabbed her friend's wrist and turned. "Come on, let's go." She fumed, angrily at herself for lashing out after just telling her friend not to.

Access allowed himself to be drug off by the smaller angle a while before finally righting himself and flying after her. "I don't see why he has to be such a jerk to me," Access scoffed aloud. "I've never done anything to him."

"There's probably a reason somewhere." Fin let go of his wrist and kept flying to their usual hang out area.

"Yeah, he never likes it when you're with me."

"Don't get full of yourself now."

"Hey, I-" Access' reply was cut off by a tackle from behind. "What the?"

"Hey man, where were you?" Toki grinned and gave his best friend a noogie. "We missed you at the party!"

"Toki, behave yourself." A female voice came up. She had long light blond hair and crystal blue eyes. Long white silk robes graced her body and beautiful white wings were behind her. "Leave the poor boy alone."

"Celcia!" Fin waved at her female friend.

"Yeah, yeah." Toki let Access go and smirked at him. He was wearing a cross between cloth and leather armor, black wings on his back. "But still. People asked about you."

"Really?" Access couldn't help but smile. "Awesome."

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Toki leaned against the bottom of a tree while the girls chose to sit on a stone bench. Access laid out on the grass with his hands behind his head. "Lord Ruri is having a dinner party I think."

"And Gabriel is having a sermon too." Celcia put her hands in front of herself and sighed longingly. "Ahhh, he's so handsome."

"I have training tomorrow so nothing too exciting." Access spoke up to them. "Besides, you'll need your energy for flying around on earth… Ah man, I wish I could feel how the sun shines on you."

"I'll soak up enough sun for both of us, bro." Toki laughed at him, getting a grin back.

* * *

The next day Access watched with a dejected heart as his three friends waved to him as they flew down from heaven's gate and down to the blue sphere below. Fin twirled as she flew down and tried to go faster, only to be caught up with and passed by Toki. Celcia laughed at both of them and flew next to Fin as well and waved one last time to the angels watching them.

"What are you going to do first?" Toki asked excitedly.

"I want to look at the mountains!" Celcia started quickly, flying off to some hills in the distance. "I'll catch up with you later!"

"I want to soak up the sun for a while." Fin looked up into the sky and shielded herself from the light with one hand. "After that, I'm going to a town and see what everyone on earth does for fun."

"In that case, I'm off to just explore." Toki saluted her. "If you need any help just call."

"Sure, sure." She waved him off. Once he was out of her sight she stretched out and flew over to a nearby tree and laid on the top branch, for once glad she was tiny. She looked up into the sky contently as she sprawled out and absorbed the sun's rays. '_I feel a hundred times stronger already!_' she thought to herself as she laid there.

After an hour or so passed she lazily stood up and took to the air, only to be rammed into be a frantic looking Toki. "Fin!" he caught her before she could fall any farther down. "Big trouble! Celcia's been caught by a human!"

"What?" Fin's mind whirled. "But they aren't supposed to see us! What happened?"

"I don't know, I can't do anything by myself so I ran to get you! Together we can rescue her."

"Then let's go!" Fin took off after him and bit her thumb nail nervously. '_Less than a few hours and we've already gotten in trouble…I hope nothing bad happens out of this._' She looked forward at Toki's determined face. One hand was on his sword hilt, lightly holding it in his grasp. She felt a little better knowing that he was there with her, being trained to protect the white winged angels.

The place Toki led her to was a large temple in the middle of a city on the mountain. Flying down to it, the pair went through a window and looked down into the living room area. A man was sitting down reading a book, occasionally glancing down to an unconscious Celcia covered in a small handkerchief.

"Oh my gosh!" fin covered her mouth. "She's knocked out or something?"

"I guess so." Toki licked his lips. "Fin, I'm going to fly in and distract him. I want you to take Celcia and get away from here. I'll catch up to you. If not, then I want you to go to heaven and tell Michael what happened."

"Toki…"

"Get ready." He leaned forward and after getting a nod from fin turned his attention on the man sitting down. "Hyaa!" He flew forward quickly, startling him. Unsheathing his sword, a flash of holy power was emitted and a splash of blood rang out form the man's hand.

"Come on Celcia," Fin spoke to friend softly, scooping her up. "You'll be okay."

"Fin?" She opened her eyes and gaped at her. "What are you doing here?"

"You're awake!"

"Yes, I just felt a little dizzy. I fell down from the sky and Sagami caught me."

"You mean… he didn't capture you?"

"Oh no!" Celcia looked shocked. "I was just having trouble breathing the air here. He helped me."

"Um… oops." She turned around, seeing Toki flying in an offensive stance and the man apparently known as Sagami backing against the wall with a horrified look on his face. "Toki!" She called to him frantically.

"Fin! You should have escaped!" Toki risked a glance over his shoulder before flying down over to the two angels.

"Toki you have it all wrong, he helped me!"

"……..Huh?"

The black winged angel sat down embarrassedly after hearing the whole story. "I see… I'm very sorry for attacking you, Mr. Sagami."

"It's okay, I'm glad that Celcia has such wonderful friends. Besides…" he lifted the sleeve of his robe and gently placed his hand in a wooden bucket. The three angels all gasped audibly as the wound suddenly started to heal on it's own before their very eyes. "This is holy water; I use it to cure the sick in this village."

"Oh wow!" Toki looked at the water in awe. "That must be why you are able to see us."

"Speaking of sick, are you okay Celcia?"

"Yes, I'm just feeling a little drained." She blushed lightly. "I'm sorry to have caused you both so much trouble."

"No trouble at all." Fin took a handful of her own hair and slowly started taking some away until she got down to a single strand of hair. "I guess it can't be helped. Here you go, Celcia honey." Fin plucked the long strand of hair from her head and lightly tossed it on her friend.

A pillar of bright white light flashed up around the girl for a few seconds, illuminating the already brightly lit room with its radiance. When it died down, Celcia was beaming at her happily. "Wow, that's to be expected from Fin Fish! I feel a thousand times better already!"

"What was that?" Sagami asked curiously, not able to hide his astonishment.

"An angel's power is stored in their hair," Toki explained while the two girls flew around the house while examining things. "A really powerful angel has golden hair, and the super powerful ones are rumored to even get white hair."

"But why is Fin's hair green?" He asked the small angel.

"Actually, it turned that color over night once. She's really sensitive about it."

"It's such an odd color." Fin said, obviously over hearing them. "I wonder why this happened to me…"

"I think it's very lovely." Sagami smiled at her, making Fin's heart skip a beat.

"Th-thank you…" She looked down, blushing.

"And your hair?" he turned back to Toki, who grinned lightly.

"Black winged angel's hair is normally blondish white because we are trained hard to fight demons. That takes a lot of power to do so we all look the same really." Toki reached back and took a handful of his brown hair. "I still have a long way to go, but I'm a fast learner. It may not be very light yet, but it's long. The longer an angel's hair is, the more powerful they are as well."

"I see."

"Angels are naturally infused with power," Fin told him happily. "When a human dies with a lot of spiritual power left over, he or she becomes an angel. When we have enough energy, God sends us back to earth to be reborn as humans again. Even you, when you pass, will become one. I'm sure."

"Thank you, Fin."

* * *

"What do you mean you want to help him make the holy water?" Celcia asked loudly. Fin and her were outside the temple in the air. They were supposed to return to heaven the next day so Fin had just decided to tell her friend what she was thinking.

"Just for a little bit." She promised her. "You've seen how many people come here to be healed. It's not fair for him to have to make it all on his own. He's probably spiritually drained every day because of it!"

"But Fin, Toki will never allow you to…"

"I know, that's why I want you to talk to him for me."

"Me? But… But…"

"Hey girls." Toki flew up to them and waved. "I found a really neat cave near by. I want you to go explore it with me."

"Sure!" Celcia agreed readily, taking the chance to think about what her friend had just told her without having to reply right away. "Where at?"

"Over behind the shrine. Come on, it's this way." Toki turned and flew away, making the two females follow him quickly so they wouldn't lose sight of him. "Right over here," He descended slowly until he was at the mouth of a cave. Lights went down it, illuminating the way so they could explore safely. "I think Sagami comes here to make the holy water."

"Oh really?" Fin flew past him and into the tunnel, followed closely by her friends. "Wow, I feel a great holy power here. I wonder where it's coming fr-" Fin stopped flying suddenly and Celcia bumped into her.

"Fin, don't stop so suddenly, I… what the?"

Toki flew in front of them and gasped. Before his eyes was a large chunk of ice, almost six feet tall and four feet thick. Around it was a rope with several holy seals on it as well. But what made them all stop so suddenly was what was on the inside. A young girl, no more than thirteen, was frozen inside of it, lifeless. A trail of melted ice rolled down the front of the ice crystal and dripped into a wooden bucket below.

"This… is what makes the holy water…" Toki swallowed thickly.

"So you found it, huh?" Sagami stepped up behind them

"Why are you doing this?" Celcia flew up to him but suddenly fell to the ground clasping her head in pain. "Ah….What's this pain?"

"Do you have any idea how much people pay for this water? People from all over Japan come here for a drink. I can make thousands, nay, millions! But the ice is melting much too slow. I need to increase the power. My sister Natsuki won't last much longer in the ice before she starts to decay."

"You used your own sister for this? You're sick!" Toki threw out his arm in aggravation. "How _could_ you?

"Sagami, what's come over you?" Fin flew up to him as close as she dared to go, lest she fall like her friend. "I know you're not like this!"

"And how is that?"

"Because I'm her!" She shouted out, frightened. "I'm Natsuki! I didn't remember it all at first but after a while it all came back to me. Brother!"

"Hahaha, this is great!" Sagami reached out and took a hold of Fin in his hand.

"Don't touch her!" Toki flew forward and drew his sword, slicing quickly and flaring blood out from Sagami's chest from the air pressure alone of the swing. "Let Fin go!"

"Such things are meaningless." The human ran his free hand along the ice and then over his chest, healing the wound instantly. "Begone, pest!" He opened his eyes and glared, sending an invisible blast to the small black winged angel that sent him reeling into the cave wall and robbing him of his consciousness.

"Brother, stop this, please!"

"You served me well as a human, now you'll serve me even better as an angel! All I need is your power!" He drew a knife from his pocket and pulled up Fin's hair.

"No! Don't!" Fin tried to stop the man from cutting her hair desperately. "Help me! Toki! Celcia! ACCESSSSSS!"

With a quick swish, the knife severed the angle's hair, leaving only the two front beings intact. For a moment Fin looked too stunned to move, and then a large blast of energy shook the area as a pillar of light erupted from the ground and exploded the cave and the surrounding area.

* * *

Access faltered in mid flight and looked quickly to the side. "Fin?" He shook his head and closed his eyes a moment, trying to figure out why he just heard his friend call out his name. A sick feeling came to his stomach and he quickly turned to fly to Heaven's gate so he could look down on earth. If he hurried, he could leave the garden and get there in only a few minutes if he flew at top speed.

"Where you going, Access?" Seth's voice taunted him as he flew in his way, making the white winged angel stop in his tracks. "I don't think you have any business over there."

"Out of my way!" He demanded angrily. "I need to check on something and don't have time to deal with you right now!"

"Don't worry, it's already been done."

"What do you mean?" The two angels circled each other in flight as they talked. "What do you know?"

"The time has come for me to leave this dump. All I have to do to finish my mission is make sure you don't reach Fin in time to stop her."

"Stop her from what?"

"From falling of course." Seth raised his hand up in front of him. "Right into the devil's hand." He closed his fist to illustrate his point. "The stage has been set and I put all the actors in place."

"You're a spy!" Access suddenly realized, eyes going wide. "What have you done with Fin?"

"Ah yes, what have I done, indeed?" he grinned sickly, showing his fangs. "What haven't I done is a more feasible question. You see, Satan has had a plan for the longest time to turn the war in his favor. All we needed was a willing angel to help us out. Fin, having the most spiritual power, was the prime choice. By now the angels know about the explosion on earth. When Fin's hair was cut all of her power left her body. No telling how many humans died."

"You bastard!" Access's fist gripped tightly. "You set all this up to happen?"

"Why yes I did, and the judgment that will happen in just a few minutes when Fin is retrieved from earth. My partner is already on the job. He'll tell her that Satan can save her, that she was wrongly accused, and only need to take his hand to be rescued. As long as she doesn't see you, everything will work out fine. She'll find Jeanne and seal the demons on earth and we'll take that power for ourselves!"

"Like hell you will!" Access shot forward like a bullet and slugged the angel as hard as he could. The brief contact with him, however, caused a searing pain on his knuckles. Looking down at his hand, he realized that he had several burn marks across his flesh. "What the…?"

Seth slowly moved his head back to look at him, licking the blood that trickled from his busted lip. "Don't you know, Access?" The black feathers on his wings started to fall off faster than normal, revealing leather bat wings in their place. "When an angel touches a fallen angel, his power is absorbed. We're powerful empty vessels… But I'll be more than happy to sap all your energy until you wither away!" He lunged to Access and grabbed his shoulders.

"Ahhhhh!" Access' scream rang out long and hard as he felt his life force be literally sucked out of his body. "Let me go!" He kicked away forcefully and fell to the ground, too weak to actually fly anymore. Panting, he tried remember how to stand while Seth flew down at him tauntingly.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of Fin in hell," he assured him. "After all, I'm the one that will help her after she falls from heaven…" He kicked Access in the gut, making him double over in pain. "And to think! She called to _you_ for help when she was in the greatest danger! Ha!"

Access' eye opened wide and he lunged forward again, gripping Seth around the neck and squeezing. The pain was instant and the life drain started again. Access tightened his grip, though, seeing an image of fin flash across his eyes. '_If I can't stop you from falling into their plans, I'll never forgive myself_!'

"Hahaha, What do you plan on doing?" Seth sneered at him, trying to free his neck from the angel's hands. "You can't beat me! You can't…" Suddenly he started having difficulty breathing. "What…Let me go!"

"Never!" Access' word escaped his mouth with a scream of pain, searing energy crackled around them as their life source was exposed. "You forget!" Access pressed upwards on him, getting a height advantage and forcing Seth to his knees. "If my willpower is greater than yours, I can reverse the flow!" He felt a tingling in his hands as he gripped harder, drawing blood from the neck he was crushing.

"Access! Stop it!" Seth clawed frantically at the hands holding him, voice barley coming out in a chocked whisper. "Stop!"

"You hurt Fin!" He screamed again, eyes losing his pupils and being replaced by a purple glow from the fallen angel's power. "I could have helped her but you got in my way! If she dies because of this…!" Another yell escaped his lips and Seth fell on his back with Access kneeling on his chest, still choking him.

"Acc…ess…" Seth's eyes were losing their focus as his energy drain was still being revered on him.

Access felt the demonic energy rip through his veins, burning him with a fiery passion that he had never known before. He saw his hair spilled over his shoulders and change colors before his very eyes, staining a dark purple and robbing it of the brown that it once was. The body below him was lifeless now, but he gripped it tighter, furious.

The energy kept coming, drawing into him like a thirst he couldn't quench no matter how much he drank. Never before had he known such anger, a desire to punish those that had wronged him and his precious friends. The tips of his hair were now changed as well and started to grow longer and thicker. Once it went a little past his waist it stopped and the searing burning energy went to his back, where it fused with his wings.

The body of Seth started to shrivel and soon flake apart. "Ashes to ashes…" Access growled and forced the last of Seth's energy into his own body. He felt his teeth cry in pain as his canines grew, a reflection of the person's in front of him. "Dust to dust!"

Seth's body exploded into dust, leaving nothing behind but two detached bat wings. Finally free of the energy suction, Access threw his head back and yelled in anger, purple energy flashing all around him.

"Fin!" He pushed himself off the ground and spread his wings, slinging black feathers as he did so. Turning, his long purple hair soared out behind him as he took to the air. Wind rushed all around him as he flew as quickly as possible. The doors to Michael's room burst open as he approached and he found the man sitting at his desk with a shocked look on his face. "Michael!"

"Access!" He looked shocked to see the Angel as he was in front of him. Before he could ask what had happened to him, Access cut him off.

"It's Fin, sir!" he didn't pay attention when Michael told him that he already knew. "It's not that! She was set up! Seth was a spy! It's a trick by Satan to get her to fall so he can use her against us! We have to stop it!"

Michael leapt to his feet and ran down the hallway with access flying close behind. "We don't have much time; Lord Ruri was on the scene seconds after it happened!"

* * *

Fin's tears hadn't stopped since she had been recovered from the scene. She stood tall, almost five foot four with dark ember hair chopped at shoulder length and two beings in front of her going just below her breast. The sudden release of her power had changed her body into that of a full angel. Toki and Celcia's bodies weren't found when she was taken and she just knew that they too had died in the blast coming from all her powers being let out at once.

"Fin Fish," Ruri spoke down to her, pain apparent in his voice. "You stand here because you are directly responsible for the death of countless humans. Had you not allowed a human to manipulate you and use you for your powers this would not have happened. In order to prevent anymore troubles by this interaction with humans and lack of self control, you are sentenced to the door of banishment."

A small pain shot through her leg as a red tattoo appeared on her thigh, symbolizing that she was banished from heaven. Not knowing what else to do, she nodded slowly and allowed an escort to take her arm. "This way," he told her and began to walk her to the archway made of stone.

'_This is it…_' she thought sadly. '_It's all my fault…Toki and Celcia are dead…humans died… all because I allowed myself to interact with humans even though it was highly forbidden…'_ She stopped at the archway and looked into it. '_Through there is nothingness… Even my soul will be wiped and the power sent to God to use to make another angel from a soul…_' She closed her eyes. '_Access…I didn't get to hear what you wanted to say to me…_'

"This isn't the only choice." The guard beside her whispered. "There's a way to get out of this and stay alive."

"Huh?"

"Satan sent me here to try and rescue you from this unfair trial." He whispered to her softly. "The things you've heard about him aren't all true. He only wanted to protect his army and live the way he wanted to live. God cast him out because of his free will. Now he tries to save those who went through what he did. He can save you."

"Save…me?" Fin's world turned. '_I can stay alive? Then that means…_' she swallowed. '_If I can…just one more time…then I don't care about the consequences. I'll do anything to be able to… just once more! So I can say it!_' Fin looked to her side at the gates of heaven and felt the guard secretly undo the roses that tied her wrist and ankles in make-shift handcuffs.

She closed her eyes once more and nodded to herself. A deep breath was taken and she instantly ran to the side, shocking everyone around her. The surprise was enough to let her run by the black winged guards and leap from the road leading to the gates of heaven. She fell quickly down, not heading to earth like before but to another place below it.

"Ruri, wait!" Michael ran up to the judgment hall and panted, looking around at everyone who appeared to be in complete shock. "Fin is innocent, this is the devil's doing!"

"Michael…" the arch angel Ruri looked at him sadly. "Fin Fish just chose to fall to save herself…"

"He's a spy too!" Access yelled out, pointing at the guard who was by Fin earlier. Several black angel feathers were falling from his wings, just as Seth's always had. "Check his wings!"

The un-named guard also tried to run to Heaven's entrance but was stopped cold in his tracks by a single slice of Michael's sword. "Take him away to be interrogated. Everyone else here will remain silent about what has happened today. We will handle the situation and take all possible actions to ensure that order is secure."

* * *

"Michael, I have a request." Access kneeled before the Arch Angel and lowered his eyes out of respect. Ever since his wings had turned black, he was placed under his care instead of Ruri's like he used to be.

"You want to look for Fin."

"Yes sir. She needs to know that Toki and Celcia survived the incident. The explosion melted the ice and it protected them from all harm…she doesn't know this."

"That's not the only reason you wish to descend to Earth."

"…No sir. I wish to stop what is going on. I have been filled in on the situation. Fin has been sent to find Jeanne and teach her to seal demons for Satan."

Michael sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Access, you are not ready for a mission such as this. Your current power is still un known. Your hair and jewels are stained from your previous battle, who knows what would happen if it were to occur again." When the angel didn't say anything, Michael went to a cabinet and withdrew a sword. "Do you know what this is, Access?"

"A holy sword, sir, given to your army to help us protect people."

"You know Toki had one of these, right?"

"Yes sir."

"The power of these swords vary from person to person. The limit is how much power the sheath can hold. Normally we give people a sheath made from heavenly items; it helps to increase the power of the sword. But sometimes, swords are so powerful that the sheath actually limits energy instead of increasing it. This allows them to be carried around without alerting the presence of demons."

"Yes sir?" Access already knew this, and was wondering why Michael was wasting time by repeating it. Toki had been granted such a sword, encased in a lower level demon wing. Access was given a sheath when he was placed under Michael's rank, but it hung empty by his side.

"This sword was made to be wielded by our next great champion. The sheath that will accompany this sword will be made from the wings of a demonic angel. Such a sheath will allow the carrier to be undetected with even the most powerful weapon. If you can sheath this, you may go to earth to look for Fin." With a flash, the giant sword converted to a smaller version of itself, cracking furiously with holy energy.

Access stood up on the desk and slowly walked over to his hand, where he gripped the handle. Searing pain ripped through his body, but he still held onto it. The energy was so much more powerful than him that the sword was rejecting him as a user. '_This is nothing!_' his mind screamed as he turned the blade shakingly so the tip was touching the empty sheath hanging by his side. Michael had made it out of the wings of Seth and he wore it with pride. '_The pain this brings me…is nothing compared to the pain Fin has gone through_!'

Slowly the sword was forced into the leather wing sheath, cracking raw holy power all around the tiny angel, testing his willpower and strength since he still had not let go. '_If I can see Fin one more time, I don't care if I die here from this!_' The sword's hilt clicked the top of the holder and all power cut off.

Panting, Access fell to his knees and was aware of smoke coming off his body. His hand burned angrily at him for putting it though the pain it felt, but he still didn't cry out. "Sir, I…" he panted a little more. "Request permission to descend to Earth."

"Permission granted, Access Time." He smiled at him proudly. "You didn't even call out in pain… you truly are the most loyal soldier I have." Access felt tears of joy come to his eyes. Even after he got black wings, Michael had never said that he was accepted as a warrior. What he was just told meant that he was truly a warrior of heaven. "For now, you are not yet powerful enough to wield that sword in actual combat. I want you to find Fin and get her back here before she gets to Jeanne. If you cannot do this, then return back to heaven at once and we'll send another more skilled warrior to buy us time while you are trained to return. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Access unlocked the belt from his waist and laid it onto the table. When Michael reached for it, the sword instantly became larger again. "When may I depart?"

"Tomorrow morning."

* * *

"So you're going, huh?" Toki asked his friend as he stood at the gates of heaven.

"Yeah," Access looked over his shoulder at his two best friends. "I'm going to bring Fin back… I promise."

Celcia's eyes watered as she walked over to him. "Be careful down there, okay?" she pulled the ribbon from her hair and reached behind him, pulling his hair into a high ponytail and tying it up in a bow. "This is my favorite ribbon, so give it back to me when you come back, okay?"

"Of course." He hugged her close and looked over at Toki as he approached him as well. The two men looked at each other a moment before they too shared a hug.

"Be safe man."

"Yeah." They patted each other on the back and let go. "I should be off, then." He turned after looking at them both one last time. "Next time we meet, I'm going to have Fin by my side!" Running, Access leapt off the gateway to heaven and flew to the blue sphere below him.

* * *

Access looked around the dark city frantically. Blue and red lights were flashing rapidly around him, speeding in all different directions. Several screams of 'Kaitou Jeanne' rang out around her and he saw a young girl stop and pant on the sidewalk. "Next time, Jeanne." She swore to herself. "Next time you show up to steal, I'm going to get you!"

"I'm too late…" Access whispered to himself in disbelief. "Not even a full day and I already failed. I can't go back like this!" The girl walked on by him and he flew slowly, weaving in and out of people as he did so.

"What the…"

A hand reached out and grabbed him, shocking him out of his thoughts. "H-Hey, lemme go!"

"What are you?" A male voice asked, ducking back into an alleyway. "A fairy?"

"I ain't no fairy!" Access wretched himself free of the hold and took to the air, flying in front of the teenager. "How come you can see me?"

"Others can't?"

Access inspected him closer. "Well you're not possessed by a demon. So I guess that means that you have a pure heart inside you…enough to see angels."

"Angels?"

"The name's Access." His mind thought things through fast. "And if you can see, I won't have as much trouble asking you something."

"My Name's Chiaki. And what's that?"

"There's an angel named Fin who's tricking someone into sealing demons. Once a demon is sealed they become pure energy. When enough are sealed then they will give the power to Satan. I was sent by heaven to stop this. To stop Jeanne from stealing."

Chiaki paused a moment. "How will that work?"

"I'm going to give a human the power to seal demons… and we'll fight against them until we can figure out what to do. If I can seal demons I can give the power to God!"

"…Tell me more."

Access looked at him a few more moments and then glanced up at the movie theater's prime time showing above him. " 'The Fate That Lies With the Seven Seas…' " The angel looked back over at Chiaki and slowly nodded to himself. He could pull this off if he played his cards right. "Sinbad… I think that name will fit you just fine. Do you know a place we can talk?"

"Yeah, this way." Chiaki turned and allowed the angel to sit on his shoulder.


End file.
